BANFF, Alta. — A warning is in effect in Banff National Park after a wolf approached campers in a busy campground.Parks Canada ecologist Jesse Whittington said the warning on the Bow Valley Parkway, which runs between Banff and Lake Louise, was issued this week because a collared wolf entered the Castle Mountain campground at night on Aug. 27.“She searched through several occupied campsites for food and she approached campers to within one metre and then left the campground,” Whittington said in an interview Tuesday.“She did not receive any food rewards, which is great, but her persistent behaviour while people were watching and following her was concerning.“Once wolves and wildlife become conditioned to human food, it’s so hard to change their behaviour.”

Source: Warning issued in Banff National Park after female wolf approaches campers – Red Deer Advocate

ISLE ROYALE, MI – Raven numbers are dropping on Michigan’s remote Isle Royale, and the reason has a lot to do with wolves.National Park staff who oversee the island archipelago sitting 60 miles from the Upper Peninsula mainland say the clever birds’ decline in numbers is linked to the steep drop in the island’s wolves in recent years.Ravens typically eat a good portion of what the wolves kill for food. And fewer wolves mean fewer kills and fewer chances for ravens to swoop in and enjoy the free buffet.

Source: Why ravens are disappearing from this Michigan island | MLive.com

Authorities are releasing few details about four wolf pups discovered dead late last week on public land south of Jackson.A Wyoming law prohibits wildlife managers from identifying anyone who legally kills a wolf — or releasing information that could lead to such an ID.“At this point we can’t confirm, one way or another, whether they were legally taken or how they died,” Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokesman Mark Gocke said. “The state statute says that if they’re legally taken, we have to release information in aggregate.”

Source: 4 wolf pups found dead | Local | jhnewsandguide.com

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved an expanded wolf hunting season Wednesday, with a goal of reducing the population to the bare minimum required to keep it off the endangered species list, Defenders of Wildlife reported.The 2018 season expands on 2017’s season, which was the first in Wyoming since a 2017 appeals court removed Wyoming wolves from protections under the Endangered Species Act and allowed the state to take control of the population, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

Source: Wyoming Expands Controversial Wolf Hunting Season

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the status of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act and could introduce a proposal that could lead to a loss of federal protections for the species.In an emailed statement, USFWS spokeswoman Georgia Parham said the agency is working closely with federal, tribal and local partners to assess scientific data related to the wolf’s historic range, population and recovery.”If appropriate, the Service will publish a proposal to revise the wolf’s status in the Federal Register by the end of the calendar year,” said Parham. “Any proposal will follow a robust, transparent and open public process that will provide opportunity for public comment.”Gray wolves were delisted in the western Great Lakes region, which includes Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan by the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011. The next year, Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature established a controversial wolf hunting season. That lasted until 2014 when a federal judge ruled that the USFWS didn’t follow proper procedures by not accounting for things like how a loss of habitat may impact wolf recovery. The 2014 federal ruling also ended the state’s wolf hunt.

Source: Federal Government Reviewing Removing Gray Wolf From Endangered Species List | Wisconsin Public Radio

A leading wolf researcher has agreed to leave Washington State University at the end of the spring term in return for $300,000 to settle a suit he brought over infringement of his academic freedom.Robert Wielgus, director of the Carnivore Conservation Lab at Washington State University, pioneered research of wolf behavior in cattle country as the predators began their return to Washington.

Source: Wolf researcher who accused WSU of silencing him gets $300K to settle lawsuit and go away | The Seattle Times

Two northern Minnesota trappers were charged with setting illegal wire snares and neglecting to check them, taking bears, wolves, deer and other wildlife over the course of two years.Brad Dumonceaux, 44, and Stephen Bemboom, 60, face over $70,000 in potential fines and jail time if found guilty to charges filed in Itasca County District Court last Friday.The snares used during the two-year investigation were larger than the state regulated 10-inch diameter and also lacked tag identification. State law states snares not capable of drowning the captured animal must be tended daily.

Source: Charges: Two Minnesota trappers snared wolves, bears, deer out of season, neglected to check traps – StarTribune.com