Wyoming Gray Wolf Recovery Status Report
From: USFWS Wyoming Wolf Recovery Project Leader, Jackson, WY
Subject: Status of Gray Wolf Management in Wyoming and the NRM
WYOMING WOLF WEEKLY- March 2 through March 6, 2009
Web Address – USFWS reports (past weekly and annual reports) can be viewed at http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov . Weekly reports for Montana and Idaho are produced by those States and can be viewed on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Idaho Department of Fish and Game websites. All weekly and annual reports are government property and can be used for any purpose. Please distribute as you see fit.
Annual Reports
The Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2008 Annual Report will be completed by early March 2009 and will be available at: http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov .
Status of the NRM wolf delisting rule
On March 6, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar affirmed the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species in the western Great Lakes and the Northern Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana and parts of eastern Washington and Oregon and a small part of north central Utah. Wolves will remain a protected species under the Act in all of Wyoming because Wyoming state regulatory framework does not meet the adequate regulatory mechanism requirements of the ESA. The NRM & WGL delisting rules will be published in the next week or two and will become effective 30-days later.
Monitoring
Dispersals: It is a well documented fact that wolves can disperse extremely long distances, frequently over 500 miles and across huge expanses of habitat unsuitable for wolf pack persistence. Routine long distance dispersals are common and provide further evidence that genetic connectivity in the NRM wolf population is and will remain extremely high and is not a long term wolf conservation issue. Examples of dispersals in Wyoming and the GYA in 2008/2009 include:
1) Two dispersing wolves settled in to an area south of Casper, WY.
2) A radio collared male wolf dispersed from N. Idaho, traveled through YNP, settled in the Sunlight Basin area west of Cody, and paired up with a female radio collared wolf.
3) A single wolf has been documented west of Wheatland, WY.
4) A single radio collared wolf dispersed to the Big Horn Mountains and was recently located near Hyattville north of Ten Sleep, WY.
5) A female wolf dispersed from SW Montana, traveled though Wyoming, SE Idaho, NE Utah, and was recently located in Colorado. Location data from the wolf’s GPS collar are down loaded every 2 weeks and locations will be reported in the USFWS Weekly Report, posted on the USFWS website @http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov
Control
Nothing to report at this time.
Research
WGFD bear biologists have been testing remote cameras which will eventually be used to document the presence of grizzly bears and sows with cubs. Numerous photos of wolves have been taken by these motion sensitive cameras near Lander and west of Cody. A pack was recently confirmed on the Wind River Reservation, north of Lander. Photos of >6 wolves have confirmed a pack of wolves in the North Fork drainage, west of Cody.
Law Enforcement and Related Activities
Nothing to report at this time.
Outreach and Education
On 3/2/09, Jimenez spoke to a class of graduate students at Teton Science School in Jackson.
Further Information
To request an investigation of livestock injured or killed by wolves, please contact the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Wildlife Services at (307)261-5336.
For additional information, please contact:
Ed Bangs (406)449-5225 x204 or Ed_Bangs@FWS.GOV
Mike Jimenez (307)733-7096 or (307)330-5631 or Mike_Jimenez@FWS.GOV
