ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK, MI-- Isle Royale National Park’s wolf population is now 17.
Two males and one female were moved from the Upper Peninsula to the park September 13, bringing the number to nine males and eight females. A fourth wolf was moved to Isle Royale, but its collar sent out a mortality signal soon afterward. Officials say the stresses of being captured, tranquilized, and moved affects each wolf differently.
The move concluded the Isle Royale fall wolf translocation project. It’s part of a three- to five-year effort to establish 20 to 30 wolves on the park. Officials want to restore predation to the island, which was being overrun by moose when wolf numbers plummeted to two.
All have been fitted with tracking collars to monitor evidence of social organization, reproduction and predation.
