MI Wolf Population Holding Steady

wolf-portrait

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says the state’s wolf population has remained stable over the past nine years. Cody Norton is a large carnivore specialist for the DNR. He told Michigan News Network this past week the latest survey found 695 wolves among 143 packs across the Upper Peninsula.

“Our wildlife division staff in the U.P. goes out and we survey wolves by driving roads that might be plowed as well as snowmobile trails,” Norton said. “Basically we’re out looking for wolf tracks. Anytime we find a track, we follow that set of tracks to try to figure out how many different wolves were travelling together.”

Packs average just under five wolves. The federal government has designated wolves in Michigan as a protected species, and they may only be killed in defense of human life.