#Wolf Conservation

[typhlonectes]

Wolves Are Making a Comeback at Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park

Since reintroduction in 2018, the wolves have rebounded from just 2 inbred individuals to 31 healthy animals

Wolves are making a comeback at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan after nearly disappearing from the rugged island chain because of inbreeding and disease.

The archipelago in northwestern Lake Superior—centered around a 207-square-mile island—is now home to 31 wolves, despite hosting only two in 2018. According to the latest survey led by researchers at Michigan Technological University, the wolf population has grown by three individuals since last year. And scientists are hopeful the group will be even larger when they count again: 

Based on their observations, they suspect up to five female wolves may have pups this summer...

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wolves-are-making-a-comeback-at-michigans-isle-royale-national-park-180982382

[mattyhd]

I’m a humble wildlife biology student. I think I just found a life hack to answer the big question:

“What do I research?”

First, consider what research is needed, and the question morphs into:

“What research is interesting AND relevant?”

Boy have I just discovered a little hack.

Professors weren’t exaggerating when they said READ ARTICLES, particularly scholarly ones.

I’d like to add to this.

Read recent articles about a topic of choice, and be sure to check out the summaries, conclusions, and reflections.

Why?

They often point you exactly in the right direction by listing the implications of their own research and the gray areas/increasingly significant topics related to it.

EXAMPLE:

I just read a journal article called “The challenges of success: Future wolf conservation and management in the United States” by David E Ausband and L David Mech at Bioscience.

Near the end of the article were these delicious paragraphs, listing exactly the kind of topics that need more research:

These provide a sense of direction. They do for me, at least.

From here it’s a matter of introspection and narrowing-down to see which topics resonate the most.

For me, monitoring wolf dispersal/colonization patterns, particularly in the face of human expansion, is what I dream of researching. Predicting their expansion could be helpful to teaching society about coexistence.

Anyways. That’s the end of today’s entry!

[foxloft]

The wolves of the Wolves of Land & Sky series! During the design process, I wanted to add stylized feather elements to each of these pins, featuring common raptors in the locales each of the wolves live; golden eagle for the gray wolf, red-tailed hawk for the red wolf, and gyrfalcon for the arctic wolf. Learn more and grab your own pin at: tinyurl.com/me9r66ac

[dopescissorscashwagon]

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Your moment of winter beauty. 🩶❄️🐺

[portland-sunshine]

The anti-wolf sentiment has been a quiet obsession in right-wing communities for years, it's a very weird subset of their beliefs. Some of it stems from ranchers worried about livestock loss, but a lot stems more from a performative "outdoorsy-ness" that they see as a masculine virtue. It's being obsessed with wilderness survival and bushcraft as concepts, but also hating actual nature except as a thing to challenge and tame. Nature isn't meant to be appreciated, it's meant to be endured and defeated. At least, in theory, in practice they're just watching YouTube videos about it and deciding they could totally do it. Ties in with survivalists and the like.

Also, a lot of them view the elimination of wolves as a victory and their reintroduction as government overreach, so it ties in with all that shit too.

So one of my tweets kinda blew up. :v

[typhlonectes]

Mmmmm, The Smell of Fresh Antler

Our animal care staff will place natural items, like antlers, that our wolves might encounter in the wild. Our carnivore staff will even bury items for the endangered Mexican wolves to uncover; this encourages the wolves to investigate for what they’re smelling.

via: Fossil Rim Wildlife Center

[kurookami-no-kuraitsuki]

L.david Mech

His original study was in the 70's on captive wolf.

He later dispproved his own study, during following study with wild wolf.

He did a lot for wolf conservation, sadly his first study sticked into the popular imaginary.

His first study has been linked with behavorial pattern found in prison. Which would track as the wolves captured where from different pack/lone individual, and largely unknown to each other before the capture.

I have a lot of respect for the guy who did the study about wolves, the one that came up with "alpha wolves". Because normally when you fuck up science, it just causes some delays and occasional pop-sci nonsense.

Dude fucked up science so badly he invented an entire new genre of pornography. I can only dream of being so influential.

[pangeen]

" Fluffy Winter Coat🐺" // © Sondre Eriksen Hensema

[respectthewolf]

[fleasnfur]

silly wolves of the NYWCC

source

[mysharona1987]

Legitimately though, even a lot of these “liberal” journalists want Trump back because the constant drama, chaos and dysfunction around him is simply a better sell than the relatively boring and undramatic Biden.

[ravensvalley]

#Wolves

I need to say a few words here about Wolves and their role in biodiversity. Because I like them, but most of all, they're a must in the wilderness.

Like every time we are standing on the edge of a hiking trail of a National Park, a protected territory, we all must beware of the consequences.

Au contrary to what most people may think of its surface, no matter how large it might be, isn't big enough to sustain a healthy Wolf population over a long term. This large Predator requires a massive home range to find the prey it needs to survive. Studies have shown that all the Wolf packs in Parks must travel outside its boundaries to meet their needs. And these large Canids are also victims of habitat degradation and fragmentation, not to mention deaths of human origin.

And for people who don't know, Wolves are considered as an umbrella species. Which means that efforts to protect it benefit the entire ecosystem, since the Wolf's territory encompasses the territories of many other species with a similar home range.

As for being an apex Predators, Wolves play an important role in biodiversity. Yes, their presence has been scientifically proven to increase the abundance and diversity of plants, mamal's Birds, Amphibiants, and Reptiles. Wolves help to control the amount of Prey on their territory; this prevents an overpopulation of herbivores, which could be detrimental to plant regrowth. Wolves also give a boost to several other animal species by leaving their partially carcasses for scavengers to feed on. Through its influence on the entire food chain and by curbing excessive grazing. So yes, the Wolf is a key species needed to preserve the balance of Ecosystem.

To conclude; Wolves are very wary and will run away from any human they detect through their remarkable senses of hearing and smell - they can sniff out their Prey from more than 2kms away. Several studies have shown that Wolves will try to avoid humans at all costs and flee when approached.

Just to say that all citizens have a responsibility to protect the Wolves.

[thewolfabouther]

Project 2025 promises to delist the Gray Wolf from the endangered species list. These animals are vital to the ecosystem and delisting them would remove protections and allow them to be hunted to extinction or near extinction. Vote blue for Wildlife.

Wolfquest says vote for Kamala

[jadeseadragon]

Repost @robinssci

Wolf spiders are the best.

*Minor edit to note that this is technically a wolf spider with a trapdoor burrow, not actually a trapdoor spider as that term refers to specific taxa.

Filmed on @australianwildlifeconservancy's Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary.