It’s been a busy summer at Isle Royale National Park. A beaver dam built in the 1950s burst in November 2017 and continues to slowly drain Lake Ojibwa, leaving a deep mud pit on what used to be shoreline. Researchers discovered four moose had become stuck in the thick mud and died.
Moose frequent Lake Ojibwa in spring and summer to feast on aquatic plants.
So far it doesn’t look like the beavers are trying to rebuild the dam.
Meanwhile, the wolf relocation program to Isle Royale has run into some problems. Four translocated wolves have perished during the process to bring 20-30 new wolves to the archipelago.
Currently there are 17 wolves, nine males and eight females, living on the island. In the fall of 2018 the park began reintroducing wolves as a way to rein in the moose population, which has grown to an estimated 2060 moose.
Before 2018, only two aging native wolves lived on Isle Royale, a father and daughter, and moose were essentially left with no natural predators.
Losing wolves so soon after they have been captured and moved is an area the Park Service wildlife biologists and staff are working to correct.
Mark Romanski, who is the division chief for natural resources at Isle Royale, said biologists and vets are doing all that they can to ensure the survival of the captured and then released wolves.
“In the short time period, typically less than 45 minutes, that biologists and veterinarians have to handle a wolf before placing it in a crate for translocation, personnel conduct a physical exam of the animal to determine if there are injuries, evidence of disease, or any indication that would preclude translocation based on criteria established by the NPS and its partners,” stated Romanski.
Still, no matter how much care is given, the stress of moving some wolves is too much for them, he said.
“The health of any given individual wolf is unknown prior to capture and any underlying issues may not be observed at time of capture.
“Additionally,” he added, “capture and translocation are stressful events and can exacerbate any underlying health issues or make the animal more susceptible to disease or injury.
“Protocols developed by the National Park Service and its partners are designed to reduce stress to the greatest extent possible and still achieve wildlife management objectives, but because this project requires capture and translocation not all stress can be mitigated.”
Wolves were first documented on Isle Royale through identification of tracks in 1949-50 and by 1957 the island supported an estimated 25 wolves. The first scientific research on Isle Royale wolves was conducted in the 1950s by Michigan Tech biologist and has continued to this day.
Wolves on Isle Royale started to decline in numbers over the last 10 years primarily because of genetic inbreeding, which leads to low birth rates and causes a multitude of genetic problems with the pups.
Should the Isle Royale moose be hunted?
Michigan State Rep. Steve Johnson thinks so. He recently introduced a resolution calling on the National Park Service to establish a moose tag lottery hunt on Isle Royale, in order to help control the island’s exploding population.
Isle Royale is 45 miles long and nine miles wide, with a landmass of 206.73 square miles and is home to an estimated 2,060 moose.
The moose population has soared as the wolf population has dropped, from 515 in 2011 to more than 2,000, according to a report compiled by Michigan Technological University (MTU). MTU’s “Wolf Study 2018-2019 Annual Report” estimated the average growth rate of the island’s moose population is 19 percent each year.
Johnson thinks a good way to reduce the moose herd, save the vegetation and make some money is to offer a tag lottery moose hunt on the island.
Over the last couple of years the expanding moose population has created stress on the island’s plant life as the moose feed on the park’s balsam fir trees and other vegetation.
Johnson’s bill, House Resolution 154, was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation for further consideration, but was rejected.
“Public hunting was not authorized in the park’s enabling legislation,” Romanski said. “Public hunting was included in the environmental impact statement (EIS) in the range of alternatives as a considered but dismissed alternative element; on page 26 of the FEIS, it states, ‘Public hunting would be inconsistent with existing laws, policies, and regulations for the park because public hunting is not allowed by federal statutory law at the park. The National Park Service is not considering a managed harvest because of the difficulty related to logistics, increased staffing requirements, removal of carcasses from the landscape, and the impacts to wilderness character.’”
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