Known for its ten thousand lakes, Minnesota is also known for its wolves, supporting the largest wolf population in the lower 48 states. Although possibly 4,000-8,000 wolves once roamed the state during pre-European settlement, wolves were eliminated from the lower one-third of the state by 1918 and a wolf bounty of $3 a head was in place until 1965. By the time the wolf bounty was repealed in 1965 roughly 650 wolves remained in the wild lands of northern Minnesota. This was the last remaining stronghold of gray wolves in the contiguous U.S. because of the wild and inaccessible region of northeastern Minnesota and because of that region’s connectivity with the adjacent Ontario wolf population.
In 1974, with the protection from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and bolstered by a growing deer population, the wolf started on the road to a successful recovery. The growing Minnesota wolf population eventually became the seed source for the Wisconsin and Michigan wolf populations. By 1978, wolves in Minnesota were down listed to threatened, a classification that allows the government, by special Endangered Species Act permits, to trap and kill wolves implicated in livestock losses. A 2003 winter survey estimated that 3,020 wolves in roughly 485 packs inhabit the north and northeastern, east central, and central portions of the state. This survey also found that the total wolf range did not expand from the last survey conducted in 1998 and the average size of a wolf pack territory declined. Biologists hypothesize the reasons wolf packs use less space now is there is a higher prey density ( Minnesota is experiencing the highest deer population on record) and most suitable wolf habitat is now occupied which leads to an increased competition between packs for the limited “real estate.”
or more information about the wolves of Minnesota, check out the Minnesota DNR wolf pages:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/wolves/index.html
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North Lakeland
Discovery Center