Wolf on Michigan's Isle Royale Gets Homesick

For over a year, we've documented the recent wolf reintroduction efforts on Michigan's Isle Royale. To add to the last two surviving members of the island's wolf population and to bring the moose population down, four wolves from Minnesota have been relocated to Isle Royale. One male has already died on the island and the latest news is that one of the females recently took to the ice on Lake Superior and went home to Minnesota.

Dave Mech, a federal Wolf Biologist, told MLive.com, “the early research on wolf translocation indicated that if you moved a wolf less than 80 miles it typically would try to return home, especially if it was a breeding animal. So a Minnesota wolf trying to return is not surprising."

While it's a loss, the plan is to keep repopulating the island with more wolves. The plan is for up to thirty wolves to be moved onto Isle Royale in the next five years. And just to "dis" the Minnesota wolf family, it looks like the next batch will probably come from Canada. Stay tuned for the drama.

Here's the story.