In this 2013 photo provided by Rolf Peterson, Isabelle the wolf takes refuge on an icy bluff over Lake Superior to lick her wounds after being attacked by other wolves. The five-year-old female gray wolf was found dead in February along the shoreline on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in northeastern Minnesota. Photo: Rolf Peterson, Associated Press
By of the Journal Sentinel
Officials
at Isle Royale National Park said Friday that a wolf that had left the
island over the ice and had been found dead on the shore of Lake
Superior in Minnesota in February died from a pellet gun wound. A necropsy showed that the female wolf died from a pellet wound to the chest. The wolf was
found dead on Feb. 8 on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation. The wolf
had been radio-collared and had been part of a long-term study between Michigan Technological University and the National Park Service.
Although it's not known who shot the wolf or where, the animal was "likely shot by someone trying to scare it away," said Liz Valencia, park service chief of interpretation and cultural resources at Isle Royale National Park.
Park Superintendent Phyllis Green said investigations by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Grand Portage tribal authorities determined there were no violations of wildlife laws.
A representative of the Grand Portage tribe was not available to comment.
In Minnesota, owners of livestock, pets and guard animals can shoot wolves if they pose an immediate threat to the animals or property. Green said that the wolf was killed by a low-powered pellet gun. The pellet hit the animal between two ribs and severed an artery. The Colorado State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory conducted the necropsy.
The movement of wolves over the ice has occurred in years with heavy ice cover, but it is not common, the National Park Service said. A male wolf crossed an ice bridge in 1997, and provided a much-needed genetic boost the island's wolf population.
This year's heavy ice pack enabled the wolf to leave the island.
Isle Royale has a population of eight or nine wolves split between two packs. One pack produced pups last year; two or three are believed to be alive. A final wolf report including an update to the island's wolf population is due in the coming weeks.
The dead wolf was nicknamed Isabelle by researchers. The wolf population has fallen from about 50 wolves in the mid-1980s because of several factors, including a lack of genetic variability.
source
Although it's not known who shot the wolf or where, the animal was "likely shot by someone trying to scare it away," said Liz Valencia, park service chief of interpretation and cultural resources at Isle Royale National Park.
Park Superintendent Phyllis Green said investigations by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Grand Portage tribal authorities determined there were no violations of wildlife laws.
A representative of the Grand Portage tribe was not available to comment.
In Minnesota, owners of livestock, pets and guard animals can shoot wolves if they pose an immediate threat to the animals or property. Green said that the wolf was killed by a low-powered pellet gun. The pellet hit the animal between two ribs and severed an artery. The Colorado State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory conducted the necropsy.
The movement of wolves over the ice has occurred in years with heavy ice cover, but it is not common, the National Park Service said. A male wolf crossed an ice bridge in 1997, and provided a much-needed genetic boost the island's wolf population.
This year's heavy ice pack enabled the wolf to leave the island.
Isle Royale has a population of eight or nine wolves split between two packs. One pack produced pups last year; two or three are believed to be alive. A final wolf report including an update to the island's wolf population is due in the coming weeks.
The dead wolf was nicknamed Isabelle by researchers. The wolf population has fallen from about 50 wolves in the mid-1980s because of several factors, including a lack of genetic variability.
source
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