Wolves, Wild Dogs and Foxes: Page 3 Endangered Species Handbook

Persecution and Hunting

Wolves, Wild Dogs and Foxes: Page 3

Although Gray Wolves were completely eliminated from the eastern states south of Canada and east of Minnesota by 1930 (McIntyre 1995), a few remnant populations survived in northern Minnesota and northern Montana. The first US Endangered Species Act in 1967 listed all wolves in the lower 48 states and Mexico as Endangered. In 1973, another Endangered Species Act was enacted, replacing the 1967 Act. Five years later, the category for the wolves of Minnesota was changed to Threatened. In subsequent years, wolves were reintroduced to the southwest, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, listed as Threatened experimental populations. All other wolves south of Canada are still listed as Endangered. Wolves have wandered from Minnesota and south from Canada to neighboring Wisconsin and Michigan, with about 50 wolves living in each state (Nowak 1999). Prior to eradication programs beginning in the 19th century, between 9,000 and 16,000 wolves were estimated to have occupied these three states (Savage 1996). Bounty programs killed 150 wolves a year in Minnesota alone between 1949 and 1954, and this state did not withdraw its bounty until 1965; Wisconsin stopped bountying wolves in 1957, and Michigan in 1960 (Savage 1996).

The wolves of Minnesota have gradually increased in range in the past 30 years, but they remain thinly distributed in the northern portion of the state. State regulations allow them to be killed if found preying on domestic livestock, with little or no proof of depredation. Minnesota has a compensation program for livestock owners but does not attempt to relocate wolves, even though depredations have occurred on only 1 percent of farms in that state (Savage 1996). In Wisconsin, large areas have been closed to Coyote hunting during the deer season, which has greatly decreased wolf mortality there, since many wolves were shot--either mistakenly or intentionally--by hunters (Savage 1996). Unlike Minnesota, Wisconsin relocates wolves found preying on livestock and compensates owners of livestock killed by wolves; Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where wolves are found, has no livestock (Savage 1996).

Although many Minnesota residents consider wolves to be threats to livestock and resent the protection they receive from the US Endangered Species Act, for others, they are a thrilling symbol of wilderness and the America that existed several hundred years ago. Ellen Hawkins and her husband Gary live in a wilderness cabin surrounded by Superior National Forest land, prime wolf country in northern Minnesota. Because they are avid wildlife watchers, they put out food for birds, foxes, Fishers, Martens and weasels, and state officials bring the couple road-killed deer which they place in a clearing 200 yards below their house for wildlife to feed on. They saw wolves very rarely and felt lucky to hear their howls or find their tracks (Hawkins 1988). One December day, they spotted a wolf feeding on a deer carcass on their property and noticed that he was wearing a radio collar, placed by the Fish and Wildlife Service to track many of Minnesota's wolves.

Their excitement at seeing the wolf, who brought "magic to the place," dimmed when they realized he was injured. He limped, holding up his right front foot, and they saw him fall in the snow (Hawkins 1988). He kept his tail down, a sign of subservience and fear, and moved stiffly and awkwardly. He spent five days feeding on the deer, lying in the snow near it, and seemed weaker each day. On the sixth day, he disappeared from the clearing, and in the middle of the night, an amazing event occurred: "We were confronted by his face pressed against our window" (Hawkins 1988). As they stood gaping at him, they heard him thump his nose on the glass, still staring at them. The wolf then went to another window, and they found themselves again eye-to-eye with him. He had climbed a snowdrift onto their greenhouse roof and now sat leaning against the window, looking back over his shoulder at them. The Hawkinses found some chicken and tossed it onto the roof next to him, while offering him a pan of gravy. The wolf looked at the food, and then at them, but did not eat.

The temperature was 25 degrees below zero F., and they decided the wolf needed warmth. Gary got a blanket and put it around the wolf, who jumped at first, and then quieted down. His passive response made them think that he should be brought indoors. They got an old quilt, and Gary picked up the sick wolf, carrying him into their living room. The wolf was somewhat dazed, but hardly moved. They called their neighbor, who came 12 miles to see the frail and sickly wolf sitting near the stove in their living room. Uninterested in food, the wolf looked about and seemed to warm up, leaning against the stove until his fur singed. They saw that he had lost part of his front foot, and they heard him wheezing as he breathed. Within minutes, his condition deteriorated, and he began pawing at his mouth. His wheezing grew into a "terrible, deep gurgling" (Hawkins 1988). Gary moved close to the wolf and began to stroke its head. The wolf stood up with effort, but then slumped down to lie beside the stove. Gary removed the collar so that the wolf could breathe more easily, and they saw that it had a number--6530--with the address of the Fish and Wildlife Service. The wolf suddenly staggered into the middle of the room, spasmed and struggled for breath. Gradually they saw his eyes become unfocussed, and the light faded out as he died (Hawkins 1988).

They later learned that Wolf 6530 left his pack when he was nearly 2 years old and wandered for eight months before he returned to his family. He stayed with them only two months before walking 40 miles to another hunting area. Finally, fatally ill, he came to the Hawkins' house, which was 45 miles from his pack. An autopsy revealed that he had died of a fungal pneumonia, the first such case of wolf mortality. The disease may have been brought on by stress and lack of nourishment (Hawkins 1988). Although his coat was thick, he was emaciated, weighing only 55 pounds. At his age he should have weighed at least 75 pounds. He had a tear on his lower lip, had lost three pads on his right foot, and one pad was mutilated on his left foot (Hawkins 1988). A biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service was contacted about Wolf 6530 and, in his opinion, the wolf's foot wounds were probably the result of getting caught in a fox trap and dragging the trap about until its toes rotted off (Hawkins 1988). As long as he was dragging the trap, he was unable to hunt with the pack, and this may have explained why he was forced to wander in search of carrion.

Many Minnesota wolves and those dispersing to neighboring states and southern Canada have been trapped in leghold traps. In fact, Wolf 6530's brother had been killed by a trapper in Ontario, 115 miles to the northeast, at the age of 18 months (Hawkins 1988). Wolf 6530 had suffered for many months, and his life ended prematurely. Wolves can live 10 years or more in the wild. Only because he had turned to people during his last days did his story come to light. Ellen Hawkins reflected on the extraordinary event: "We'll never know what motivated him to come our way. I can only say that I'm grateful to Wolf 6530 for sharing his last, desperate moments of life. His act gave us a sense of connection with his world that we would never have had, and our commitment to live in harmony with that world has been strengthened. We will always carry with us the vivid image of the wolf at the window" (Hawkins 1988). The dying wolf may have sensed that the Hawkinses were friends of wildlife, having seen them put out food and watch him without taking any aggressive action toward him. Because he was a highly social animal who had been forced into solitude for most of his short life, he may have sought their company, sensing that he was close to death, preferring humans to an isolated and painful death without his pack mates. Whatever his motivation, his appeal to the Hawkinses' prior to dying was evidence of the complexity of this fascinating creature, and an indictment of the continued use of the inhumane steel jaw leghold trap.