The International Wolf Center notes that Michigan voters defeated two largely symbolic referendums on the ballot yesterday to show opposition to wolf hunting in the state. As an educational-focused nonprofit organization, the Center frequently teaches about the complex role human attitudes and politics play in the survival of wolf populations.
L. David Mech, biologist and International Wolf Center founder and vice chair said, “The fact that wolf populations have recovered to the point where voters can even consider the hunting issue is remarkable. Wolf populations have recovered well. Now humans need to figure out how to live with them with a minimum of conflict and controversy.”
Since their delisting from the Endangered Species Act in 2012, gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes region of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota have held or slightly increased their winter count, according to state and federal authorities.
Rolf Peterson, noted Isle Royale wolf biologist and International Wolf Center board member said, “The wolf population has been estimated at 600-700 in Michigan for the last couple of years. Limited to the largely forested Upper Peninsula, wolves now make the Michigan woods quite a bit more wild.”
The Center educates thousands each year about how to best coexist with wolves, how scientists and wildlife managers advance our understanding of wolf biology and behavior, as well as the wolf ‘s relationships to ecosystems locally and worldwide.
While the two Michigan proposals will have no practical effect, yesterday’s votes are considered an important victory for anti-wolf hunting supporters who could use them to challenge the August 2014 statute in court. Pro-wolf hunting supporters want the Michigan Natural Resources Commission to decide matters regarding wolf hunting.
David Kline
communications director
International Wolf Center
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