by Trevor RoubadeauxMon, July 1st 2024 at 6:04 AM
Updated Mon, July 1st 2024 at 12:52 PM
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The Michigan DNR has been keeping an approximate count of them for years. A new report of their numbers was released earlier this month. (WPBN/File)
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UPPER PENINSULA, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — Gray wolves are listed as endangered in 48 states.
The Michigan DNR has been keeping count of the gray wolf population every other year.
After their population neared extinction in the 1950s, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 helped gray wolf populations rebound in many regions.
The Michigan DNR has been keeping an approximate count of them for years. A new report of their numbers was released earlier this month.
“The wolves in the Upper Peninsula are stable and have been for the last 14 years,” Michigan DNR Large Carnivore Specialist Brian Roell said. “So, they’re healthy and doing well here in the Upper Peninsula.”
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This is good to know, but what does a stable population mean?
“It just represents that they reached this balancing point, not only biologically but also socially,” Roell said. “Because anytime you’re dealing with a large predator you have to think more around social care capacity as well as biological caring capacity.”
In other words, there is a perfect balance between available habitat and the approximate number of wolves that habitat can support over time.
This is important because it means the environment and the wolves are healthy.
“Sometimes things like catastrophic weather fire, disease can cause those boom and bust cycles, but those are a little bit out of our control,” Roell said.
There is concern for some that climate change could affect the populations and drive them out. But Roell feels differently.
“That’s not a fear of mine. I think climate change in general will benefit deer, their main prey source,” Roell said.
With that, all the wolves need is their prey and an unchanged home to continue stability.
“Really, all they need is that prey and to be left alone to survive. So I think our wolf population is not in jeopardy, even with climate change,” Roell said.
As of last month, gray wolves are no longer considered endangered on the state level, but they’re still protected under federal law.
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