Our LIvinii Rt'scnniw — M{inuniil.\ 



99 



viving now only in southeastern Canada. The 

 new classification may have implications for the 

 recovery criteria propounded by the Eastern 

 Timber Wolf and Northern Rocky Mountain 

 Wolf recovery plans. The reclassification did 

 not change the status of the Mexican wolf. 



This article is based on a review of the liter- 

 ature and recent personal communications. 

 Most of the studies cited depended primarily on 

 the use of aerial radio-tracking and observation 

 (Mech 1974: Mech et al. 1988). 



Population Status by Region 



Lake Superior Region 



After wolves were protected in 1974 by the 

 Endangered Species Act of 1973. their numbers 

 and distribution in Minnesota increased, and 

 indi\iduals began recolonizing Wisconsin 

 (Mech and Nowak 1981). The population 

 increased in Wisconsin and began recolonizing 

 Michigan (Hammill 1993). The Minnesota pop- 

 ulation increased at about 3% per year (Fuller et 

 al. 1992); its distribution continues to increase 

 (Paul 1994). The best estimate of its cunent size 

 is 1.740-2.030 wolves. Wisconsin and mainland 

 Michigan each supported an estimated 30+ 

 wolves in early 1994 (A. P. Wydeven. Wisconsin 

 Department of Natural Resources, personal 

 communication; J. Hammill, Michigan 

 Department of Natural Resources, personal 

 communication), and Isle Roy ale National Park 

 about 14 wolves (Peterson 1994). 



As wolves increased in Minnesota, they also 

 began dispersing westward into North and South 

 Dakota (Licht and Fritts 1994). The only records 

 from these states involve 10 wolves killed from 

 1981 through 1992, but the possibility remains 

 that small populations may occur in some of the 

 more remote areas. Sufficient prey certainly exist 

 there, so if dispersing wolves from Minnesota 

 and Manitoba are not killed by humans, they 

 should be able to breed and start populations. 



Western United States 



Wolves were virtually absent in the western 

 United States (other than an occasional animal 

 that disperses from Canada) from the mid- 

 1930"s through 1980 (Ream and Mattson 1982). 

 The nearest breeding population through this 

 period was probably in Banff National Park, 

 Alberta. Wolves were completely protected in 

 extreme southeastern British Columbia in the 

 1960's (Pletscher et al. 1991). This led to recol- 

 onization of the area and adjacent northwestern 

 Montana, and in 1986 a den was documented in 

 Glacier National Park, Montana (Ream et al, 

 1989). This population, which straddles the 

 Canadian border, has since grown to four packs 

 and about 45 wolves. 



Three breeding packs have been reported 



elsewhere in western Montana (Fritts el a 

 1994), all probably founded by animals that dis- 

 persed from Glacier National Park. 

 Additionally, an animal that dispersed from 

 Glacier is in northeastern Idaho, and a wolf shot 

 in 1992 just south of Yellowstone National Park 

 was genetically related to Glacier wolves (Fritts 

 et al. 1994). Animals that have dispersed, pri- 

 marily from the Glacier area, have begun back- 

 filling the area between Glacier National Park 

 and Jasper National Park, Alberta (Boyd et al. 

 1994). This connection to larger wolf popula- 

 tions in Canada will enhance the viability of the 

 U.S. population. 



Although occasional wolves have been 

 sighted in Wyoming and Washington and 

 numerous sightings have been reported from 

 central Idaho, no reproduction has been docu- 

 mented in these states, with the possible excep- 

 tion of litters in Washington in 1990 (S.H. 

 Fritts, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, personal 

 communication). An environmental impact 

 statement on the reintroduction of wolves to 

 Yellowstone and central Idaho was completed 

 in early 1994. 



Factors Impeding Wolf Recovery 



In small populations, the death of any indi- 

 vidual can seriously impede recovery, meaning 

 that factors that may not affect larger popula- 

 tions may hinder recovery of smaller ones. Such 

 factors hindering the recovery of wolves include 

 illegal and accidental killing of wolves by 

 humans, canine parvovirus (Mech and Goyal 

 1993: Johnson et al. 1994; Wydeven et al. 

 1994), sarcoptic mange (A. P. Wydeven et al., 

 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 

 personal communication), possibly Lyme dis- 

 ease (Thieking et al. 1992), and heart worm 

 {Dirofilaria immitis: Mech and Fritts 1987). Of 

 these, only killing by humans is subject to 

 human control. 



I Gray wolf iCaiiis lupus). 



