Isle Royale Wolves Are Doing Fine, Thank You

It's been about 14 months since wolves were re-introduced to Isle Royale. The wolf population had dropped to just two wolves - and they were unable to reproduce. The current population is up to 17 wolves now - nine males and eight females.

I'm a little surprised the original two are still alive. It had to be quite a shock to have all those wolves showing up and challenging your turf, but it seems to have worked out for everyone involved. My guess is they're all too busy eating moose to fight.

According to MLive.com, the wolves are doing their job - bringing the moose population down. The moose numbers had exploded without predators and they were tearing up the vegetation on the island. During the summer and fall, researchers found 60 wolf kill sites and found that the wolves had brought down a lot of moose calves (63% of the kills were moose calves) - along with snowshoe hares and beavers.

The plan is to bring in another 30 wolves. But, with 2000 moose, there's enough for everyone. Here's the story.