An aerial view shows one of the newly released wolves on Isle Royale making a break for wooded cover. The wolves that have been brought to the island are fitted with GPS collars so researchers can track their movements. Before the decision was made to transplant 20-30 wolves from the mainland to Isle Royale, there were only two wolves left and as many as 1,600 moose. Researchers hope by adding more wolves the moose population will be stabilized. Photo courtesy of OMNRF Communications
Six gray wolves, three males, and three females, were relocated from Michipicoten Island Provincial Park where they have run out of caribou, their only large prey, before ice and wolf health deteriorated such that successful translocation would not be possible. Additionally, a black wolf was translocated from the Ontario mainland.
The move to Isle Royale was done March 22-23.
Due to illness, accidents, disease, inbreeding, and wolves killing each other in battle, Isle Royale’s wolf population had fallen over the years from a high of about 50 to two in 2017, a daughter and father. Meanwhile the moose population is growing, and is estimated at more than 1,600 on this 45-mile-long, 9-mile-wide island.
The operation to bring the wolves to Isle Royale was funded with $45,000 from the International Wolf Center and $30,000 from the Lake Superior National Parks Foundation. Through a GoFundMe account online, another $11,500 was raised.
Donor funds allowed this operation to continue after bad weather exhausted planned funding. This added time allowed both agencies to better achieve their objectives. For the National Park Service (NPS), the first year’s objective was to translocate 8-10 wolves from the Lake Superior region to the remote island park, to increase the population and restore predation, while providing for genetic diversity.
With this latest move, the population of wolves on Isle Royale is now 15. “This successful effort resulted in exceeding our first year population goal while providing a buffer for potential losses. ” Superintendent Phyllis Green said, “Importantly, we were able to maintain a balance of males and females.”
“We are honored to have played a role in this important operation,” said Rob Schultz, executive director of the International Wolf Center.
Just days before the move became official Sona Mehring, the chair of the Foundation said, “On Michipicoten nature lessons can be cruel and starvation is one of them. For the remaining wolves on Michipicoten that will be their fate unless we help move them to Isle Royale National Park where their hunting skills and genetics can add value to establishing a new population of wolves on Isle Royale.”
Green said the project on Michipicoten to save those hungry wolves would not have happened if countless donors didn’t step forward. “I just want to thank everyone who donated,” she said. “It really helped to have all the donations that came in. We were pretty much right on the mark for what the estimate was and what came in from donors. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
Three wolves were captured and moved Friday by teams of professionals. On Saturday, another four were moved.
“They were long days, but we had a really wonderful result,” Green said. “We were coordinating five aircraft and seven wolves, arriving independently. It was very intense.”
It is believed that a 2-year-old female that came from Michipicoten to Isle Royale may be pregnant. If she were to give birth on Isle Royale this spring, those would be the first pups born on the island since 2014, according to Rolf Peterson, the lead researcher studying wolves and moose on the island. “Any reproduction on the island this year would be pretty remarkable,” Peterson said.
Peterson followed the weekend’s events closely.
“I was just glad it was successfully concluded,” he said. “There are so many ways it can go wrong. You’re nervous until it’s over.”
Peterson and the researchers now will wait to see how the island’s new inhabitants form their packs.
“We just have to wait now until the wolves organize their personal lives and get on with things,” he said. “It’s been seven years since wolf predation had any impact on moose out there. It will be good to see that going again.”
The males captured on Michipicoten were close to healthy weights, but the females weighed between 50 and 60 pounds, far below what is considered healthy. The low female weights are because the wolves on Michipicoten had run out of prey.
Meanwhile, more than 1,600 moose populate Isle Royale, which is far above what biologists think is viable for the island to sustain. Too many moose on Isle Royale will lead to the overconsumption of vegetation, eventually causing severe damage to the island’s ecosystem and raising concerns that the moose population may collapse.
By reintroducing wolves to the island, the moose will again have a natural predator to keep their population at sustainable levels. These seven new wolves join eight already on the island, including six that have been reintroduced since September through other efforts.
All of the wolves were fitted with GPS collars. Several days after the wolves were on their new home all of the GPS collars had sent data locations to researchers. “The wolves are adjusting to their new environment and finding food on the island, visiting carcass provisioning and old predation sites,” said Mark Romanski.
“The farthest movement so far was about 4 miles, by the black wolf who traveled southeast from the release site. The scent of the Michipicoten Island wolves may have motivated him to make this journey to avoid conflict,” added Romanski.
About 20 to 30 new gray wolves are expected to be introduced to Isle Royale National Park over the next three to five years.
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