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Those of us living in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest are lucky. Wolf songs have returned. Wolves recovered naturally from expansion into the state from Minnesota and are doing well. In winter 2021 there was a count of 1126 in 292 packs and at least 16 lone wolves. The Michigan wolf population is about 700 animals and seems to be leveling off. The average pack size varies between 4-5 animals.

By 1960, wolves were essentially gone from Wisconsin. Some old-timers say they saw some wolves in very wild, remote parts of the state. But there were no known breeding packs. Why did they disappear? State and federal bounties (no longer in effect), habitat loss, poaching, car kills, disease, starvation, and parasites all contributed to their decline.

According to former Department of Natural Resources biologist Adrian Wydeven: in the 1990's the wolf population grew rapidly, despite an outbreak of mange between 1992-1995. The Wisconsin DNR began work on a management plan, and completed the plan in 1999. This management plan set a delisting goal of 250 wolves in late winter outside of Indian reservations, and a long-term management goal of 350 wolves outside of Indian reservations. In 1999 wolves were declassified to state threatened status with 205 wolves in the state. In 2004 wolves were removed from the state threatened species list and were reclassified as a protected wild animal with 373 wolves in the state.

Wolves were federally reclassified to threatened on April 1, 2003, but on January 31, 2005 wolves were relisted as endangered due to a lawsuit. Wolves were removed from the federal list in Wisconsin and the remainder of the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment on March 12, 2007 (also included MI, MN, and portions of ND, SD, IA, IL, IN & OH). Wolves were a state managed species until September 29, 2008 when wolves again reverted back to endangered status due to another lawsuit. Then in spring 2009, wolves were removed from the endangered species list. Yet again from summer 2009 - winter 2012 they were listed as endangered due to lawsuits from a few animal advocate groups. Removed from federal listing in winter 2012, wolf management was handed over to the state DNRs. At this time, Wisconsin DNR held a wolf harvest season. However, in 2014 wolves were relisted under the Endangered Species Act. When and if wolves become delisted by the federal government, states and tribes will regain management authority. Delisting again occurred again in January 2021, but as with previous delistings, were again challenged in federal courts, and returned to the federal endangered species list in February 2022.

Wisconsin DNR has planned to update their 1999 wolf management plan several times, but with loss of state management authority, the efforts were not completed. New efforts to develop a new state plan began in 2021, and the DNR plans to publish a draft for public comment in summer 2022.

(Thank you to the Timber Wolf Alliance for providing updates.)

Map of Gray Wolf Distribution
in Central and Northern Wisconsin: Winter 2016 - 2017
(Source - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)

Changes in Wisconsin Timber Wolf Population 1980-2017

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