ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK-- Officials who relocated seven wolves to Isle Royale National Park are calling the effort a major success.
Six wolves from Canada’s Michipicoten Island and one from the Ontario mainland were captured, checked and moved to the park Friday through Sunday. The Michipicoten wolves were in danger of starvation because they had run out of prey.
Of the seven wolves, three were female. One of them may be pregnant. If she were to give birth this spring, it would be the first pups born on Isle Royale since 2014.
The relocation brings the total number of wolves on Isle Royale to 15. Officials would like to see 20 to 30 wolves live on the island in the near future.
Rolf Peterson is the lead researcher on the island’s wolf/moose study. He says officials will now wait to see how the wolves form their packs. He adds it will be good to see wolf predation have an impact on the moose population. More than 1,600 moose are overconsuming vegetation and putting Presque Isle’s ecosystem in danger.
