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Posted on 05/23/2004 11:12:21 AM PDT by nuconvert
Adirondack Wolf Spawns Many Theories About Whether to Bring the Animals Back to New York
By Michael Virtanen/Associated Press
May 23, 2004
EDINBURG, N.Y. (AP) - The night Russ Lawrence shot dead the first confirmed Adirondack wolf in a century, the big canine wasn't alone. It came for the hunter's bait on a winter night with another animal. "It wasn't as big, but it was a pretty good size," Lawrence said. "That's why I figured it was a female."
At first, Lawrence figured he'd killed a record-sized coyote that January night in 2002, and he contacted state conservation officials. It was a healthy 85-pound male, more than twice the average coyote size, but with the same features and color as its common relative.
Two years later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took tissue for genetic analysis and concluded it was pure gray wolf. That quickly raised questions: Had a loner wandered down from the upper Midwest or Canada? Was the other animal Lawrence saw a gray wolf, too?
And the big one: Had wolves, once at risk of extinction, made their way back to the Adirondacks?
Wildlife experts agree they haven't, because populations would be noticed, as they have in the West and upper Midwest. The animals, also known as timber wolves, tend to live in small packs, move around, vocalize frequently and hunt.
But the kill touched off a new round of debate over whether to bring the wolf back to New York. Farmers say coyotes are enough of a problem already, preying on young calves and other livestock. But some advocates of reintroducing the wolves say the animals would help the environment.
"If they're filling essentially the same niche, does it make a difference whether we call it a coyote or a wolf?" said Al Hicks, wildlife biologist for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. "I guess it's whatever makes you feel better."
Feared as threats to livestock and people, wolves were hunted nearly to extinction by the 1930s in the continental United States.
Last August, after their cultivated resurgence in the West and Midwest, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service moved the gray wolf from endangered to threatened after 30 years. There are now almost 4,000 gray wolves and about 250 red wolves in the lower 48 states.
Killing them still can bring a fine up to $100,000 per individual, $200,000 per organization.
Lawrence won't be prosecuted, said Diana Weaver, spokeswoman for the wildlife service. "At times the goal of enforcement is not so much punishment but education and compliance," she said.
The federal agency has no plans to reintroduce wolves in the Northeast, and would first need backing from the states anyway. New York state officials have said wolves might be incompatible with the interests of residents and farmers.
Brad Devries, spokesman for Defenders of Wildlife, disagrees. He says wolves are effective predators that will move deer around the territory, benefiting plant species and smaller animals.
Wolves now inhabit parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Algonquin Park in Ontario. Individuals have been known to travel hundreds of miles.
Lawrence was hunting at the southeastern edge of the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park, on private land 40 miles north of Albany. He was 200 miles from the Algonquin Park and more than 400 miles from Michigan. The 48-year-old roofer has hunted coyotes for about 10 years, selling the furs in Canada.
Scientists say it's possible the animal came down from Canada, though intense hunting and trapping outside the Algonquin Park would make the trip treacherous.
And the other animal Lawrence saw? It could have been a coyote - or another wolf, said Roland Kays, mammals curator at the State Museum in Albany.
Tell it to the DNR and widlife service. And I am not saying that in disrespect of you. The DNR will dismiss it as pure hogwash. Heck they wont even admit that there are mountain lions around here and there is a video taken by two state troopers of a mountain lion. I have seen the sign of the critters myself.
Sounds to me like they're lazy.
Let's see how the eco-goofs like that!
Fine idea!
It would also help keep the local mugger population down.
You missed by most with my 'niche' statement. I meant that a predator twice the size of a coyote can choose from a much wider range of prey, in terms of size. They won't just be picking on mice, rabbits, and the occasional sheep.
He may have used a 'lure', rather than 'bait' as reported. Scent, with the possible addition of a curiosity lure. This probably is legal, even if bait is banned. He might even have a trapper's permit, or a predator-control contract; He sounds like a fairly dedicated hide-hunter.
Now there is an understatement. The < censored > wolves will not shut up. Oh, it sounds so romantic in movies but in real life you want to throw a shoe at them.
I used to live in an area with coyotes. I know what you mean.
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thanks for the ping on this one!
If you live here it kind of sux.
I suppose, but it's still interesting that the coyotes and wolves will breed.
Sure just like they control the cougar population in CA. lol
A couple winters ago, my wife and I saw what we thought was a pair of coyotes chasing a deer through a field. I remember remarking at the time that the bigger of the two was HUGE for a coyote, even the disturbingly large ones I've seen around here.
Maybe there are more wolves in New York the than eco "experts" think.
more hybrids than they care to admit, maybe.
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