Wolves among us

When I first moved here, I felt like I moved into a real-life version of a zoo. There were wild turkeys outside my window, bears in my backyard and bald eagles over my head. Hummingbirds buzzed as I walk to my car and deer roam about while rumors of cougars in town make me worry.

As long as I was safe and not attacked, I felt fine. Then I started to hear about the wolves. People started popping up with stories about sightings and warnings .

I’ve seen wolves before, but that was in a zoo, behind two fences and a cement wall. I felt fairly safe watching the animals roam about. I left them alone and they returned the favor. When I heard that my new residence may afford me the chance to see one without the fences and barriers, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take it.

But sightings aren’t that common.

The gray wolf was placed on the endangered species list in 1974 after the population drastically dropped because it was thought the wolf was a nuisance combined with human encroachment on to wolf territories.

Efforts began in 1980 to strengthen the population with a goal of a minimum of 30 breeding pairs that was met in 2002.

At the end of 2008, there was an estimated 1,695 wolves with 95 breeding pairs in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, with 497 wolves, consisting of 39 breeding pairs, in Montana alone.

With an increasing population, at some point, the species may be taken off the endangered list. As of now, three states (Montana, Wyoming and Idaho) are working with Tribal governments to take over the management of wolves after delisting occurs.

On Nov. 1, the Tribal Wildlife Management Program enacted a management plan to oversee the treatment of wolves.

“Its an effort to set policy for wolf delistment,” said Dale Becker, a Tribal Wildlife Coordinator.

As of April 2009, Tribal wildlife biologists have spotted wolf packs in four locations around the reservation. The packs have a minimum of 15 wolves.

Becker said the wolves monitored around the reservation descended from Canada and weren’t introduced here, as many people have perceived.

“They were only introduced to Eastern Idaho and Yellowstone,” he said. “A lot of people conjure up these theories on how [wolves] got here. I guess we all like a good mystery.”

Last year, there was a slight increase in population in the three states in the Northern Rockies. Becker said the smaller increase, compared to the larger ones in years past, is from hunting seasons and the number of control actions taken.

It is a reality that wolves will prey on livestock and the management plan outlines the steps taken when that conflict occurs.

“We work with ranchers each year that are having real, on-the-ground, problems,” Becker said. “Unfortunately, most of those deal with conflicts. Some of those dangers are very real and some are perceived.”

On Jan. 10, FWP verified that wolves killed two llamas on a large animal sanctuary north of Hot Springs on the Flathead Reservation. Efforts to collar and release a wolf and remove up to two are ongoing.

The first step is to look at the operation and see if anything can be changed to stop the conflict. If the wolf pack is new, Becker said, efforts will be made to get a radio collar into the pack. The collar provides biological, as well as geographical, information for trackers.

“It is the easiest way to get to know the pack,” he said.

The conflict may get “to a place where you have to remove some in the pack,” he said.

If this occurs, the radio helps locate the pack, but removing wolves is an uncommon step taken in most situations.

“There are usually a couple each year when you get to that point,” Becker said. “After so many nonlethal efforts, you get to the point where you make the call.”

Within the last six months, there haven’t been any confirmed sightings of wolves around Lake County, according to Becker.

“You get a lot of reports,” he said. “Some are valid, some are questionable. We try to check out as many as we can.”

If anyone thinks they have spotted a wolf, Becker encourages them to call his office. 

“It just helps give us an idea of where sightings have been,” he said.