Unusually warm temperatures this winter forced researchers to cancel annual wildlife surveys on remote Lake Superior islands, but researchers said Tuesday that data shows wolf populations are stable. announced that they had succeeded in collecting.
Isle Royale is a 134,000-acre island located far west of Lake Superior between Grand Marais, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Canada. This park is a wildlife biologist’s dream, offering a unique opportunity to observe wolves and elk in their natural habitat, free from human interference.
Scientists have conducted annual wolf and elk surveys on the island since 1958. It has been conducted every year except in 2021, when the pandemic forced researchers to cancel it.
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Researchers typically conduct aerial surveys of islands to create population estimates and observe animal behavior. The island has no landing zone, so scientists are using skip planes that can land on the surrounding ice.
Wildlife surveys conducted on remote Lake Superior islands show that while wolf populations are stable, elk numbers have declined by nearly 60 percent over the past four years. Photo taken: The National Park Service captured a photo of a 4-year-old female gray wolf being released from her cage in Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park. (National Park Service, via AP, File)
A team led by Michigan Technological University researchers began this year’s seven-week study in January, two weeks after extreme temperatures made the ice around the island unsafe for planes to land. They were forced to evacuate the island and were unable to return.
Data collected by the research team before departure showed the wolf population was 30, down from 31 last year but up from 28 in winter 2022. Scientists said they believe wolves are divided into four packs, with each pack numbered. At least 13 wolves. At least one wolf appeared to be living alone.
Meanwhile, the elk population was 840, down 14% from last year. Overall, the elk population has declined by nearly 60% since 2019, when it peaked at just over 2,000 individuals.
In past years, most of the elk starved to death, scientists said. A moose can eat up to 40 pounds of vegetation each day, but due to the small number of wolves, the population grew without limit, and the wolves ate up the food themselves. But this year’s decline is likely related to wolf predation, they said.
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And fewer elk are giving birth to calves, the researchers said. Less than 6% of the moose researchers observed this winter were calves. This is higher than last year’s estimate of 2%, but still well below the long-term average of 13%.
