Washington lawmaker proposes moving wolves

[idahohuntr]

Actually Bobcat, just like the decimation of the Lolo elk herd by wolves>not habitat, the illegal dumping of wolves by the USFWS and WDFW in Washington has become public knowledge.

No wolves have been released in WA by USFWS or WDFW.  That's just a fact you are going to have to accept. 

 
Too many people it seems believe the government planted wolves in this state.  No good facts have ever been provided to make me believe that WDFW or the feds dropped of some wolves here.  Just seems much more likely that they came here on their own.  Just look at OR7 I think he was/is called.  They tracked that wolf all over Oregon and California for how long?  Wolves can really cover some ground.

One question I still always wonder about though, is why the wolves that were known to exist here in the 80's and 90's didn't take off and start repopulating like the wolves of current times?

When populations are reduced to such low levels they often times become functionally extinct as reproduction and dispersal are severely limited or non-existent.  Contrast that with a scenario where tons of wolves are transplanted to neighboring states that see substantial increases...and voila...wolves are pouring in from those source states.  Probably many other complex factors at play as well.

[jasnt]

Actually Bobcat, just like the decimation of the Lolo elk herd by wolves>not habitat, the illegal dumping of wolves by the USFWS and WDFW in Washington has become public knowledge.

No wolves have been released in WA by USFWS or WDFW.  That's just a fact you are going to have to accept. 

 
Too many people it seems believe the government planted wolves in this state.  No good facts have ever been provided to make me believe that WDFW or the feds dropped of some wolves here.  Just seems much more likely that they came here on their own.  Just look at OR7 I think he was/is called.  They tracked that wolf all over Oregon and California for how long?  Wolves can really cover some ground.

One question I still always wonder about though, is why the wolves that were known to exist here in the 80's and 90's didn't take off and start repopulating like the wolves of current times?

When populations are reduced to such low levels they often times become functionally extinct as reproduction and dispersal are severely limited or non-existent.  Contrast that with a scenario where tons of wolves are transplanted to neighboring states that see substantial increases...and voila...wolves are pouring in from those source states.  Probably many other complex factors at play as well.

I call BS on this. We already know that when prey levels are high wild k9's reproduce at a much faster  rate. Especially when k9's numbers are low, having much larger litters and a greater chance of dispersal. 

[CAMPMEAT]

I know ranchers that have lived here all of their lives and have told me they saw wolves here 40 years ago..

[wolfbait]

Actually Bobcat, just like the decimation of the Lolo elk herd by wolves>not habitat, the illegal dumping of wolves by the USFWS and WDFW in Washington has become public knowledge.

No wolves have been released in WA by USFWS or WDFW.  That's just a fact you are going to have to accept. 

 
Too many people it seems believe the government planted wolves in this state.  No good facts have ever been provided to make me believe that WDFW or the feds dropped of some wolves here.  Just seems much more likely that they came here on their own.  Just look at OR7 I think he was/is called.  They tracked that wolf all over Oregon and California for how long?  Wolves can really cover some ground.

One question I still always wonder about though, is why the wolves that were known to exist here in the 80's and 90's didn't take off and start repopulating like the wolves of current times?

When populations are reduced to such low levels they often times become functionally extinct as reproduction and dispersal are severely limited or non-existent.  Contrast that with a scenario where tons of wolves are transplanted to neighboring states that see substantial increases...and voila...wolves are pouring in from those source states.  Probably many other complex factors at play as well.

I call BS on this. We already know that when prey levels are high wild k9's reproduce at a much faster  rate. Especially when k9's numbers are low, having much larger litters and a greater chance of dispersal.

I know ranchers that have lived here all of their lives and have told me they saw wolves here 40 years ago..

It's much easier to have an expanding wolf population if wolf pairs etc. are dumped around the state each year, WDFW know where their wolves should be. The declining game herds and wolf sightings should show them how their wolf increase is coming along.

[rim_runner]

"One question I still always wonder about though, is why the wolves that were known to exist here in the 80's and 90's didn't take off and start repopulating like the wolves of current times? "

That's one I'd love answered as well!!
Also why do they say the lookout pack was the first in 70 years

I wonder if the added monitoring and study of wolves in the north west has been a deterrence to homegrown wolf management actions

[jasnt]

Hard to say

[GameHunter1959]

IMO- A good portion of the wolves in WA were planted. By who.... IDK?

Its hard for me to believe that a wolf or pack of wolves would travel all the way across prime habitat and relocate themselves into the Toutle of all places. Those wolves in the Toutle were planted. IDC what anyone says.

[idaho guy]

"One question I still always wonder about though, is why the wolves that were known to exist here in the 80's and 90's didn't take off and start repopulating like the wolves of current times? "

That's one I'd love answered as well!!
Also why do they say the lookout pack was the first in 70 years
[/quote.                                                                                                                   It is at least partly to do with the type of wolf transplanted to the west my understanding is we had the western grey wolf and we brought in the Canadian wolf which is much larger and efficient predator took this picture today placing my bear bait

[idaho guy]

I should have put something next to the track to size it it was huge which is why I took the pic

[TommyH]

Here ya go

[idaho guy]

 :tup:that's what I was thinking thanks for posting!

[idaho guy]

 

[PA BEN]

"One question I still always wonder about though, is why the wolves that were known to exist here in the 80's and 90's didn't take off and start repopulating like the wolves of current times? "

That's one I'd love answered as well!!
Also why do they say the lookout pack was the first in 70 years
[/quote.                                                                                                                   It is at least partly to do with the type of wolf transplanted to the west my understanding is we had the western grey wolf and we brought in the Canadian wolf which is much larger and efficient predator took this picture today placing my bear bait

I had heard that when the wolves were introduced they use Alpha wolves and thats why they took off so fast.

[jasnt]

"    It is at least partly to do with the type of wolf transplanted to the west my understanding is we had the western grey wolf and we brought in the Canadian wolf which is much larger and efficient predator"

If that was the case than they are the first ever not first in 70 years

[bobcat]

The wolves re-introduced are the same wolves that were always there.

From the WDFW website:

Aren’t the wolves that were reintroduced into Yellowstone non-native or different from earlier wolves?

No. There is no factual basis to the belief that the wolves reintroduced in the mid-1990s to Idaho and Yellowstone National Park from west-central Alberta and east-central British Columbia differed (being larger and more aggressive) from the wolves that originally occurred in the northern Rocky Mountain states.

Wolves are well known for their ability to disperse long distances from their birth sites. Radio-tracking data demonstrates that the wolves from southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta mixed with wolves from Idaho and Montana, along with those from farther north near the source locations of the animals used in the Idaho and Yellowstone reintroductions. When combined with recent research that reveals considerable genetic mixing among wolf populations in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, this information illustrates that wolves form a single population across the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains and southern Canada.

Recent genetic research involving hundreds of wolves sampled from Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming in the 1990s and 2000s found no evidence that the remnant native population of wolves differed from the reintroduced wolves. Thus, the wolves present in these states before wolf recovery began were genetically similar to those used in reintroductions into Yellowstone. 

http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/faq.html#14