The gray wolf has been part of Great Lakes fauna since the melting of the last glaciers. At the beginning of European settlement in Michigan , wolves were found throughout the state. However, European werewolf mythology, fairy tales, and religious beliefs, along with views that wolves were incompatible with civilization, resulted in the persecution of wolves in Michigan.
The United State Congress passed a wolf bounty in 1817, in the Northwest Territories , an area which included what is now Michigan . A wolf bounty was the ninth law passed by the First Michigan Legislature in 1838, and the wolf was nearly eliminated from the Lower Peninsula by 1900. The wolf bounty continued until 1922, when a state trapper system took affect. The bounty was reinstated in 1935, and by the time it was repealed in 1960, wolves nearly were eliminated from the entire state. Michigan wolves were given complete legal protection in 1965.
In 1956, the Upper Peninsula population was estimated to be about 100 individuals in seven major areas. However, by 1974, the entire Michigan wolf population was reduced to only six animals in the Upper Peninsula . Sporadic breeding and occasional immigration of wolves from more secure populations in Ontario and Minnesota were considered to be the factors that maintained a small population of wolves in the Upper Peninsula . It is believed that a few wolves persisted in remote areas of the Upper Peninsula and were never completely extirpated from the state.
Only one wolf reintroduction has been attempted in Michigan . In 1974, a pack of four Minnesota wolves was released in Marquette County . All died or were killed as a result of direct human activities within nine months. These wolves did not reproduce and did not contribute to the current wolf population.
Beginning in the early 1970's, wolves in Minnesota expanded their range south and east and began occupying some of their former range in Wisconsin and eventually moved into the western and central Upper Peninsula . In addition, wolves began immigrating into the western Upper Peninsula from Ontario.
From minimal numbers in the early 1970's, wolf numbers in the Upper Peninsula increased to 17 in 1991, 80 in 1995, and to over 180 individuals during the winter of 1998/1999. Results from track counts during the winter of 1999/2000 show that the wolf population has a minimum of 216 individuals distributed across all Upper Peninsula counties. In 2002, roughly 278 wolves in over 60 packs roamed the Upper Peninsula.
During 2005 the population rose to 405 individuals in more then 86 packs. This is the sixth consecutive year that the wolf populations exceeded 200, reaching the recovery goal stated in the Michigan Wolf Recovery and Management Plan. Reaching this goal allowed the state to remove the wolf from the state threatened list when the wolf was no longer considered federally endangered in 2007.
In 2006, the Michigan wolf population reached 434 individuals in more than 91 packs. This was an increase of 7 percent from the previous year. In March of 2007 the federal government removed wolves of the western Great Lakes from the list of endangered species. This delisting gives the state full control of the management of Michigan wolves. Currently, Michigan ’s 2008 wolf population is at 520 wolves with 115 packs. Although a wolf was trapped and killed in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in 2004, there have been no confirmed sightings since 2004 and all wolves sampled were from the Upper Peninsula.
To learn more about wolves of Michigan visit the Michigan DNR wolf website:
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,160,7-153-10370_12145_12205-32569--,00.html
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North Lakeland
Discovery Center