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A year ago, the Department of Natural Resources documented nine wolves shot by hunters, nearly double the number in previous seasons, and experts suspected there were more that were never found.
Adrian Wydeven, the agency’s wolf expert, said the dramatic drop-off this fall was probably due to federal officials’ March decision to remove the gray wolf from endangered lists in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
That decision handed over management of the population to state and tribal governments, which authorized the killing of 41 wolves by government agents or landowners, he said.
Landowners who have had chronic problems with wolves over the past few years are very pleased there is now a more flexible system in place for getting rid of them, Wydeven said Thursday.
“We are seeing better public acceptance with the delisting, and we are having problem wolves more readily removed from the landscape,” he said. “We are issuing permits to landowners so they can shoot problem wolves on their own property.”
A problem wolf is one that has injured or killed livestock or pets.
Eighteen problem wolves were killed under special permits in 2006 before a federal judge revoked them in response to a lawsuit over the federal Endangered Species Act.
That occurred just weeks before Wisconsin’s fall deer hunt. Critics said it pushed people to take the problem of too many wolves into their own hands with more killed by hunters.
Decades of bounty hunting had wiped out wolves in Wisconsin by the 1950s, but they migrated back from Minnesota after they were put on the federal endangered species list in the 1970s. About 550 now live in northern and central Wisconsin, roaming in 138 packs.
The largest documented pack in Wisconsin included 12 wolves. Most packs average four wolves.
The wolf shot by a hunter this fall was killed in Oneida County. Genetic testing indicated the 5-year-old female was a wolf-dog hybrid, Wydeven said.
It was killed in an area north of the Willow Flowage, far from agricultural land, apparently by someone who didn’t like wolves, he said.
Last year, the Timber Wolf Alliance helped sponsor a $4,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of anyone involved in killing a wolf during the deer hunt.
No one claimed the reward, said Mark Leach, program director for the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College in Ashland, where the Timber Wolf Alliance is headquartered.
“I think this is very good news that there was only one incident and hopefully that is the end of it and it becomes normal for people to live with wildlife,” Leach said Thursday.
Two others wolves also died during the deer season — one from a vehicle collision and one apparently was killed by other wolves, Wydeven said.
Thirty farms had a loss of livestock from a wolf this year, compared with 25 a year ago, he said. About two dozen landowners received permits to kill problem wolves, and three landowners shot wolves as they either attacked cows or a dog.
The DNR is still concerned about the number of farms with losses, Wydeven said.
“By having more liberal controls on the problem packs, we are hoping we can reduce that in the future,” he said.
About a dozen dogs were reportedly killed by wolves in 2007, compared with 25 last year, he said. The dogs were mostly hounds used to hunt bears, bobcats or coyotes.
Mother Nature is killing some wolves too. Wydeven said a wolf with a radio collar was recently found dead from mange, a skin disease.
“With the colder weather we are getting this winter, if we have wolves with mange, they are more likely to die than in a more mild winter,” he said. “We may lose a few more animals.”
On the Net:
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us
