Tag Archives | Wolves

Prehistoric Ice-Skating Wolves Once Roamed the Falkland Islands

By on March 5, 2013 in News 14

Hooray science! Here’s an intensely weird mental image to enjoy: Scientists are theorizing that the prehistoric ancestors of the now-extinct Falkland Islands wolf (RIP, 1876) got there by way of “ice-skating” across the frozen ocean during the last Ice Age. The creature’s presence had perplexed Darwin, but with the advent of DNA testing, scientists are developing a more complete picture of how the Falkland Islands wolf got to be on the islands:

Via LiveScience:

The reddish coyote-sized Falkland Islands wolf was the only mammal native to the Falkland Islands far off the east coast of Argentina. The foxlike predator lived on seals, penguins and sea birds until hunters exterminated it in 1876.

The existence of the Falklands wolf perplexed Darwin when he first encountered it in 1834. “How did this great big carnivore arrive to a set of islands 460 kilometers (285 miles) from the nearest mainland when no other terrestrial mammal did?” asked researcher Alan Cooper, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

… Read the rest

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‘Most Famous Wolf in the World’ Shot by Hunters

By on December 10, 2012 in News 9

RIP 832F…

Via New York Times:

Yellowstone National Park’s best-known wolf, beloved by many tourists and valued by scientists who tracked its movements, was shot and killed on Thursday outside the park’s boundaries, Wyoming wildlife officials reported.

The wolf, known as 832F to researchers, was the alpha female of the park’s highly visible Lamar Canyon pack and had become so well known that some wildlife watchers referred to her as a “rock star.” The animal had been a tourist favorite for most of the past six years.

Keep reading.… Read the rest

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Man-Eating Wolves Return to Berlin? Let’s Celebrate!

By on November 27, 2012 in News 21

Picture: National Park Service (PD)

Timothy Treadwell: [petting a fox] You can see the bond that has developed between this very wild animal, and this very, fairly, wild person.

- “Grizzly Man“

A furious debate between the memories of the past and the beliefs of the present revolves around wolves. It’s not hard to find accounts of people being eaten alive by the wild animals from the pre-Industrial era but, once they were no longer living near populated areas, these accounts dramatically reduce in frequency. There is even a theory that over the years they have learned not to f–k with us[1]. In other words, some people think we live in a world so dominated by humans wild animals are being domesticated by proxy.

Those on the side which maintaining the animals are just misunderstood can celebrate the news that this endangered species appears to have returned to the outskirts of Berlin.… Read the rest

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Montana To Use Unmanned Drones Against Wolves

By on January 1, 2012 in News 48

220px-HowlsnowJ. William Gibson writes for the Los Angeles Times:

Congress removed wolves in Montana and Idaho from the protection of the Endangered Species Act in April. And this fall, the killing began.

As of Wednesday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game reported that 154 of its estimated 750 wolves had been “harvested” this year. Legal hunting and trapping — with both snares to strangle and leg traps to capture — will continue through the spring. And if hunting fails to reduce the wolf population sufficiently — to less than 150 wolves — the state says it will use airborne shooters to eliminate more.

In Montana, hunters will be allowed to kill up to 220 wolves this season (or about 40% of the state’s roughly 550 wolves). To date, hunters have taken only about 100 wolves, prompting the state to extend the hunting season until the end of January. David Allen, president of the powerful Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, has said he thinks hunters can’t do the job, and he is urging the state to follow Idaho’s lead and “prepare for more aggressive wolf control methods, perhaps as early as summer 2012.”

Wyoming Gov.

… Read the rest

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‘Super Pack’ of 400 Wolves Terrorize Remote Russian Town

By on February 8, 2011 in News 62
Photo: Daniel Mott (CC)

Photo: Daniel Mott (CC)

The Daily Mail Reports:

A ‘super pack’ of wolves has been terrifying a town after leaving more than 30 horses dead in just four days.

Four hundred bloodthirsty wolves have been spotted prowling around the edges of Verkhoyansk, in Russia, attacking livestock at will.

Twenty four teams of hunters have been put together to get rid of the wolves, with a bounty of £210 for every wolf skin brought to officials.

Stepan Rozhin, an administration official for the Verkhoyansk district in Russia, said: ‘To protect the town we are creating 24 teams of armed hunters, who will patrol the neighbourhood on snowmobiles and set wolf traps.

‘But we need more people. Once the daylight increases, the hunters will start shooting predators from helicopters.’

A pack of wolves this size is unheard of, with the animals usually preferring to hunt in smaller groups of just six or seven.

… Read the rest

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