Our Very Own Suzanne Stone Awarded Grant for Coexistence Research: This week we are thrilled to tell you that our very own Suzanne Stone, senior representative for Defenders’ Rockies and Plains region and Idaho resident, has been awarded
a $10,000 grant to continue her research on the effectiveness of
“foxlights” as a deterrent for livestock-wolf conflict. Stone was
introduced to foxlights after spending time in Australia where wildlife
experts used them to keep dingo away from predators. Foxlights use LED
lights and flash irregularly to feign a human presence thereby deterring
predators. Foxlights could be a great addition to the array of
nonlethal tools wildlife conflict prevention experts use regularly –
things like fladry and guard dogs – and could be a much cheaper
alternative.
We’ll keep you updated here as this research progresses.
But for now, big congrats to Suzanne Stone for winning the prestigious Christine Stevens Wildlife Award from the Animal Welfare Institute. We are so lucky to have you on the Defenders team!
Isolated Wolf Comes Too Close For Comfort:
After the death last spring of one of only two members of the Ruby
Creek Wolf Pack, the one surviving pack member has become a frequent
visitor to the rural town of Ione, Washington – coming in closer and
closer contact with domestic dogs and people. The wolf has begun to play
with one of the local dogs in the area, and wildlife biologists think
the wolf mistakenly thinks this is her pack’s alpha male. While she has
yet to cause any harm, wildlife biologists and conservationists agree
that having a habituated wolf so close to humans and their property
could pose problems for both people and wolves. Even if this wolf was
captured and relocated to another area, it’s likely that she would again
seek out people. In this scenario, the best possible outcome is to
place the wolf in a wildlife sanctuary. And that’s exactly what is in
the works. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials have plans to trap the wolf and move it to Wolf Haven International’s
wolf sanctuary. This sanctuary is the perfect home for captive-born
wolves or displaced animals like this Ruby Creek wolf, and it also
serves as a breeding facility for highly endangered Mexican gray wolves and red wolves.Ongoing Investigation Into Wolf Shooting In Whitman County, WA: Reports are surfacing that a wolf was shot
by a local farmer southwest of the town of Pullman, Washington last
week. It appears the farmer chased the wolf for several miles in his
vehicle before killing it. While landowners in Washington have the legal
right to kill wolves in defense of an immediate threat to life or
property, so far no evidence shows that the wolf was doing anything
other than walking the property line. The investigation is still
ongoing, but the case will be sent to Whitman’s County Prosecutor once
the facts are gathered. To us, this looks like another sad example of
the overreaction and extreme hatred for wolves.
Are Oregon Wolves Going to Be Delisted? Not so fast…. There’s been a flurry of news stories
suggesting that wolves will be delisted by the state of Oregon in 2015.
Why? One of the criteria under Oregon’s wolf management plan for “full
recovery” is that the state must maintain four wolf breeding pairs for
three consecutive years. For the past three years, Oregon has maintained
four breeding pairs. And it’s likely that Oregon will meet this
criteria again in 2015.
However, anti-wolf groups are operating under
the misconception that if Oregon keeps four breeding pairs in the state
through 2015, wolves will automatically be removed from the state
endangered species list. There are already dozens of comments and blogs
characterizing the removal of wolves from state protection as a good
thing as it would make it easier to kill wolves in those areas of Oregon
(about 1/3 of the state) where the animals are federally delisted. But
these folks are forgetting a few things.
There are several criteria that
need to be evaluated prior to determining if wolves can safely be
removed from protection under the state Endangered Species Act in
Oregon. The number of breeding pairs is just one of those criteria. And
while Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
(ODFW) is already under intense pressure from anti-wolf interests to
push an actual delisting, we encourage OFDW to conduct a neutral and
unbiased status review once any of the criteria have been met to assess
the wolves’ overall population health in Oregon.
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