A southeastern Minnesota trapper recently found a surprise while checking his coyote traps. A gray wolf, somewhat rare to that part of the state, was waiting for him in one of the traps. After contacting officials with the Minnesota DNR, the wolf was released unharmed.
The fact that the wolf was released unharmed, while not a surprise, is what can be expected with more wolves moving into areas where they’ve been long since gone. And it’s also what we can expect from trapping in the New Mexico gray wolf recovery area, which was temporarily banned to complete a study on trapping impacts on wolves.
Wolves have become common in Minnesota, but according to the story, this wolf likely came from a pack in neighboring Wisconsin.
Minnesota has about 3,000 gray wolves, but they typically live and breed in the northern third of the state in the forested region. In 2009, animal welfare groups successfully petitioned a judge to put Midwest gray wolves back on the endangered species list. The Minnesota DNR recently petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have the animals removed from the list, and the federal agency has until March to make a decision.
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