Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Elk org. disowned by trusted elk family –  You know something’s up when a leading elk conservation organization gets a rebuke from the son of “the father of modern elk management.” Olaus Murie was a well-known biologist and writer whose research was instrumental in restoring elk and other wildlife to the West. After his tenure with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, he co-founded and served as president of The Wilderness Society, and campaigned to expand Grand Teton National Monument and to create the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. His brother Adolph was an expert on wolves, and the visionary leadership of both men help set the foundation of wildlife management in our country.

For years, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation granted the Olaus Murie Award to individuals who exemplified his commitment to protecting wildlife habitat. But this week, Olaus’ son Donald Murie sent a letter to RMEF asking the organization to remove his father’s name from the award. His reason? Murie said the organization’s unscientific, anti-wolf positions were untenable, running counter to the “careful and meticulous studies” his father was known for. This is yet another wake-up call for a once-great conservation organization, and reminder that protection of one native species should never come at the expense of another. See a copy of the letter here.

“Olaus was one of the first to argue that it is not about wolves or elk or Redwoods, or eagles or owls, it is about habitat, space where natural processes can work freely, as they have done for millions of years. Populations of prey and predators go up and down, but over time maintain a functioning system.” — Donald Murie

Hats off to Bob Ferris and Cascadia Wildlands for encouraging the Murie family to stand up for Olaus’ beliefs and the spirit of his conservation legacy!

This guard dog keeps a watchful eye over a flock of sheep grazing in the Wood River Valley of central Idaho.

A dog in sheep’s clothing– Livestock guarding dogs have been used for centuries and remain a very effective nonlethal deterrent when properly managed. A team of dogs can keep hungry predators at bay by barking and drawing the attention of a nearby herder or range rider who can more easily frighten wolves away. If left unattended, the dogs will even stand their ground and try to fight off a wolf or coyote, though they often find themselves on the losing end of the battle. Guard dogs can also be detrimental in spring if they get too close to wolf dens, which can trigger an attack from wolves defending their pups. Like all deterrents, proper management is the key to success.

Guard dogs are common in places like the Wood River Valley, where sheep graze on public land throughout the summer. But that also means there’s a potential source of conflict when people come into contact with the guard dogs. As this story from Public News Service points out, it’s important to keep in mind that these are working dogs, not pets. People should take caution while hiking or cycling in areas where livestock are grazing. Listen below to learn more:

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Check out our online guide for more information about livestock guarding dogs and other nonlethal deterrents.

Airing our grievances with Montana’s new wolf hunt regulations – Much of the debate about Montana’s newly approved, more aggressive wolf hunt regulations has focused on trapping. At least that was the main focus of coverage from NPR’s Morning Edition this week. Some wildlife advocates have decried the practice as inhumane, but that’s not the only issue. Wolf trapping is also a threat to imperiled species like wolverine and lynx that can easily be harmed or killed in a wolf trap.

More importantly though, the state has offered no legitimate reason for trying to reduce wolf numbers. Their specious arguments about impacts on livestock and elk are not valid since livestock losses are already very low, and the decline of certain elk herds is the result of multiple factors, not just wolves. There is no evidence that simply killing wolves will further reduce conflicts with livestock or boost elk herds, and just appeasing people who don’t like wolves doesn’t seem like sound wildlife management at all. Other wildlife species aren’t treated like this in Montana and wolves shouldn’t be either.

Listen to the NPR story below and let us know what you think of Montana’s wolf hunt plan.

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What’s that playful fur ball over by the lake? Is it a black bear cub? A giant badger? No, it’s a wolverine!

A similar line of monologue must have been going through Dave Messa’s head last month when he ran into one of the rarest creatures in all of Northern California. Messa was on a solo backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada wilderness when he spotted a wolverine frolicking in the snowmelt near Lake Spaulding. He wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing until he snapped a photo and later verified that it had been a wolverine. Read more from the LA Times.

There are believed to be fewer than 300 wolverines in the United States, and this is only the fourth sighting of a wolverine in California since 2008. It could be the only one in the state, so Messa was indeed lucky to have such a close encounter. Watch this news report from FOX News-Sacramento:

Messa isn’t the only one getting lucky with wolverine sightings, however. Last week, citizen scientist Kalon Baughan collected photographs from Defenders’ remote cameras in the Montana wilderness that turned up a young wolverine (called a kit). This is even more astounding since biologists believe there are only approximately 35 wolverines breeding successfully in the U.S.!

For the past couple years, Baughan had been helping Defenders meso-carnivore expert Dave Gaillard and Defenders partner Wild Things Unlimited monitor important areas for wolverine and lynx activity in Montana and Wyoming. Tragically, we lost Dave at the end of last year in a ski accident, but it’s safe to say that he would have been thrilled to see these photos of wolverines in the wild from cameras he helped set up. Dave’s spirit lives on with every one of these majestic creatures that’s born in the wild!

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Caught on camera

A young wolverine kit and its mother were photographed using remote cameras in the Montana wilderness

On the prowl

Wolverines are persistent scavengers, always on the lookout for a quick bite to eat

A real rarirty

As it is, wolverines are exceedingly rare, with fewer than 300 in the United States. Biologists believe there may be as few as 35 breeding adults.

Kylie Paul, the newest addition to Defenders’ Montana team, will be picking up where Dave left off, trying to save vital habitat for lynx and wolverines in the Northern Rockies. Keep an eye out for further updates from Kylie in coming months.

Go Team Wolverine!

Idaho wolf pup-date – A lone wolf pup found in central Idaho is still without his family despite the discovery of tracks on Tuesday, suggesting the other wolves might still be in the area.

Here’s a short video of Suzanne howling on Tuesday night to try to find the pack (nice camera work, Patrick!):

Suzanne and Patrick were able to continue the search on Wednesday thanks to generously donated flight time from Lighthawk, an organization that provides planes and pilots to aid conservation efforts. A very bumpy flight (due to windy conditions) did not turn up the rest of the pup’s pack as the rugged Sawtooth National Forest is not an easy place to spot wolves, especially during the summer when there’s more tree cover and no snow to show their tracks.

Here’s some footage of their search flight on Wednesday that gives a sense of the terrain:

Thanks again to Steven Garman at Lighthawk for his excellent piloting and for donating his time and aircraft. See a few more photos of the expedition:

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The plane

Suzanne prepares for a survey flight to look for the lost pup's pack.

In the cockpit

Steven Garman of Lighthawk donates his flight time and aircraft.

Mission ready

Patrick Graham, head field techinician for the Wood River Wolf Project, in position to scan the hillsides for wolves.

View from above

Jagged mountains in the Sawtooth National Forest, no sign of wolves

Our crew set up trail cameras on Thursday in hopes of finding the pack while the pup rested comfortably at a zoo in Boise. Several professional wolf rescue facilities have already offered to take the pup if he cannot be returned to the wild, but we at Defenders still have our fingers crossed that he will soon be reunited with his pack.

See more coverage from the Idaho Statesman. Thanks to Idaho Fish and Game for all their help so far.

Flat Top retaliation – The Idaho Mountain Express reported that a young female wolf was killed last week in response to sheep losses at the Flat Top ranch near Carey, Idaho. The wolf was killed by Wildlife Services from an airplane while a kill order is still in effect for another wolf in the area.

Ranch owner John Peavey has left many of his sheep unguarded, and as our wolf expert Suzanne points out, he has done very little to protect his thousand-plus pregnant ewes.

“It’s like putting a Band-Aid on an amputation,” she said. “It’s not going to be sufficient to address what the problems are, and we’ve made that clear [to Peavey].”

Another local wolf advocate was equally disappointed in Peavey’s efforts to safeguard his livestock. In a letter to the Idaho Mountain Express, Lynne Stone (no relation to Suzanne) writes:

“Aerial gunning of wolves doesn’t need to be happening. There are ways for predators and livestock to coexist. Ranchers must be willing to change. Sheep need a human presence. Guard dogs help, but must be backed up by a person. Sheep cannot be left on their own and be safe.”

Oversight overdue – Speaking of Wildlife Services, the Sacramento Bee published another editorial railing against the “pre-emptive indiscriminate and unnecessary killing of wildlife” by that agency. The Bee called for much stronger oversight at all levels of government, including from California stakeholders who contribute $3-4 million each year to Wildlife Services for predator control.

Top dog vs. big cat – Though we often talk about wolves as “top predators,” they often find themselves on the losing end of battles with other species—and I’m not just talking about with us humans. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wolf specialist Liz Bradley said in a recent AP report that mountain lions have been responsible for the death of at least two collared wolves in the Bitterroot Valley since January. She found two dead wolves last year too that were likely killed by mountain lions.

This is a stark reminder that life in the wild is tough for all animals and that relationships between species can be quite complicated. The number of predators that can survive in a given area is not just a function of how much prey is available but also the abundance of rival predators.

(Update on yesterday’s post about a wolf pup found in central Idaho)

Suzanne points to wolf tracks by the side of the road believed to be those of the mother and siblings of the lost pup.

Good news! Defenders wolf expert Suzanne Stone and lead field technician Patrick Graham from our Wood River Wolf Project went out last night searching for the lost wolf pup’s family in the central Idaho wilderness. They were able to find tracks of what appear to be the mother and several other pups. The tracks indicate that the mother wolf was using the road to move her litter through Sawtooth National Forest where they were disturbed by human activity and the one pup got separated from his family.

In cooperation with Idaho Department of Fish and Game, our field crew is heading back out to search for the den site and hopefully find the rest of the pup’s family. Wolves travel fast though, so if they can’t be found on foot, it may be necessary to conduct survey flights to locate them by plane if possible.

In the meantime, the pup is still being fed and cared for by professionals and is expected to be transferred to a zoo later today.  Let’s keep good thoughts going for his reunion with his family.

Here’s a video Patrick took over the weekend of the pup at an animal care facility:

Over the holiday weekend, some out-of-state campers visiting central Idaho found what appears to be a young wolf pup wandering alone on a road in the national forest. They took him to the Sheriff’s office, and he is now being cared for by professionals.  We’re not sure what if anything happened to the pup’s family, but our field crew is trying to locate the other wolves at this time.  I caught up with our wolf expert Suzanne Stone to learn more about this unfortunate situation.

How did you hear about this incident?

The pup was found within one of our wolf coexistence project areas, so our local partners contacted us immediately for help. We recommended that he be taken to a professional animal care facility until a longer term solution can be found. It’s still unclear at this point what happened to the pup or why he was by himself, but we’re helping Idaho Fish and Game figure out if there’s a way to return him to his family.

We did get some basic location information about where the pup was found, so I’m heading out with our head field technician to try to find the rest of the pack in the hope that he can be returned to them. Unfortunately, it has become much more difficult to track wolf activity in the last year or so since many of the collared wolves have been killed during the wolf hunting and trapping seasons. We now have very limited information about wolves in the area.

How is the pup doing?

He’s very frightened of people, and it looks like he hasn’t eaten in days. We’re trying to find some goat’s milk and bison meat to feed to him, but he really needs to be returned to his pack as soon as possible. Wolf pups are extremely vulnerable at this stage, and their chances of survival on their own are very low.

What’s next for the pup?

It’s hard to say without knowing the status of the rest of the pack. If the adults are still alive and we can find them, there’s a good chance the pup can be returned to the pack and survive. But if the adults are dead or can’t be found, then there’s no sense leaving a pup out there by himself. We might be able to find another pack to act as surrogate in another location, but there’s always a risk they will not accept the pup as one of their own.

Are there any other options?

The last resort is for him to be raised in captivity. We’d much rather see the pup survive in the wild than being fed by hand behind a fence. But captivity could be the only option if we can’t find the rest of his pack or another pack willing to adopt him.  If that’s the only option, one of the country’s top wolf rescue facilities has already offered to take and care for him.

Is there anything we can do to help?

Our top priority right now is to find the rest of the pack and see if the adults are still alive and if there are other pups. Ultimately, the decision will rest in the hands of Idaho Fish and Game, so there may be opportunities to support their efforts to save this pup. Please stay tuned as we learn about the situation…

On Wednesday, the first day of spring, we began a new chapter in bison restoration by celebrating an incredible victory for wildlife conservation with the tribal leaders of Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, and state and federal officials.

Jamie Rappaport Clark watches as the bison are released at Ft. Peck.

Watching the bison come storming off the stock trailers Monday night was a historic moment for wildlife conservation that I will never forget. But the heartfelt speeches and tribal ceremony I witnessed Wednesday were equally powerful and brought home for me the broader significance of the bison’s return.

Plains Indians refer to themselves as “The People of the Buffalo” to signify their intimate relationship with the animal, and for centuries their fates were intertwined. The Assiniboine, Sioux and Gros Ventre tribes that now live at the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations once relied on the buffalo for food, clothing, and countless other materials. Tragically, as the herds of wild bison perished during the mass slaughters of the 1800s, so too did the Plains Indians.

As one of the tribal council members said at the celebration, we can’t change the past, but we can change the future. Returning genetically pure, wild bison to the Great Plains is a chance for a new beginning for the animals and a chance for the tribes to reconnect with an essential part of their culture and history. I take heart now knowing that the bison will once again roam the plains of northeast Montana and that future generations of Assiniboine, Gros Ventre and Sioux families will be able to live with bison as their ancestors did.

Jamie talks to a tribal leader (©Ted Wood)

When it was my turn to say a few words to the community, my thoughts turned to my own family and in particular to my 12-year old son Carson. For the past few years, he has joined me on summer trips  to Yellowstone.  Each year he has asked about the bison stuck in quarantine just outside the park. He saw other bison roaming the grasslands of Yellowstone National Park and couldn’t reconcile why these animals were cooped up on the side of the road just standing around.  He repeatedly asked when we were going to find them a better home, and I’m so excited to tell him that it’s finally happened.

So much of what we do at Defenders is focused on the future and creating a better world for our kids and grandkids. Our legacy to them is saving, protecting and restoring as many of our native plants and animals as we can in their natural communities.

Saving 60 Yellowstone bison is a major accomplishment in itself, but more importantly, it paves the way for restoring bison to other areas across the region and revitalizing America’s vast prairie ecosystems in the years to come.

I’ve returned from Montana with a renewed sense of hope, and I’m looking forward to all the great work that still lies ahead!

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Gov. Schweitzer at the podium

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer delivers a passionate speech about returning bison to the tribes.

Jamie congratulates tribes

Jamies talks about the importance of restoring the bison to the Great Plains for future generations.

Tatanka Oyate

A tribal drumming group performs at Wednesday's celebration at Fort Peck Community College in Poplar, Montana.

A powerful moment

Jamie looks on during the tribal ceremony to honor the connections between the bison, the tribes and life on the Great Plains.

Bison at Fort Peck

On Monday, about 60 bison were safely relocated from Yellowstone National Park to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. They will be held temporarily in a corral until tribal wildlife managers complete fencing on a much larger pasture.

Talking bison with tribal leader

Jamie discusses the future of bison with a member of the Fort Peck tribal council.

Running bison

Bison run around the corral getting used to their new home.

Ceremonial drumming

Tatanka Oyate drummers perform during the celebratory pipe ceremony at the bison corral.