Archive for May, 2012
First Wolf Killed In New Brunswick In More Than A Century – Maine Wolf Coalition Renews Its Call For A Bi-National Recovery Plan
DATE: MAY 9, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FIRST WOLF KILLED IN NEW BRUNSWICK IN MORE THAN A CENTURY
MAINE WOLF COALITION RENEWS ITS CALL FOR A BI-NATIONAL RECOVERY PLAN
In April of this year, a coyote hunter on New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula shot and killed an 86 pound canid that DNA testing determined to be a wolf. It is believed to be the first wolf killed in New Brunswick since the 19th century.
This follows a wolf killed in Newfoundland in March of this year and it is at least the ninth wolf known to have been killed in the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada in an area from Massachusetts north to Newfoundland. It is yet more evidence that wolves are attempting to recolonize parts of eastern North America where they were extirpated a century or more ago. The New Brunswick wolf was determined to be a gray/eastern wolf hybrid. Gray wolves are typically found in more northerly regions of Canada while the smaller eastern wolves are found in a band across southern Ontario and Quebec. Gray/eastern hybrids do occur in southern and central Canada and are most likely the “new” wolves that are recolonizing eastern North America south of the St. Lawrence River. Wolves can travel hundreds of miles during dispersal from their pack and in the winter months, the frozen St. Lawrence River upriver from Montreal serves as a possible conduit for wolf dispersal.
The killing of the New Brunswick wolf has prompted The Maine Wolf Coalition to renew calls for a Bi-National Recovery Plan for wolves in this region. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar and Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent, the coalition states, “Some time ago our organization requested that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service work with Canada on a Bi-National Recovery Plan for this wolf. With the recent documentation of wolves in New Brunswick and Newfoundland, we believe such a plan is needed more than ever. We again ask the U.S. and Canada to work together to promote the natural recolonization of this animal. It is in the best interest not only of our environment, but of our economy.”
The Maine Wolf Coalition, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation dedicated to wolf recovery in Maine through research, education and protection. For more information, please contact John Glowa at (207) 445-2360 or at jglowa@roadrunner.com.
MWC Repeats its Call for a Bi-National Recovery Plan
April 29, 2012
Secretary Ken Salazar
U.S . Department of Interior
1849 C. St. NW
Washington, DC. 20240
Peter Kent-Environment Minister
401 Confederation Building
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1A 0A6
Dear Messrs. Salazar and Kent:
I am writing on behalf of The Maine Wolf Coalition, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to wolf recovery in Maine through research, education and protection. Since 1994, our organization has advocated for the natural recolonization (as opposed to reintroduction) of wolves in Maine and elsewhere in eastern North America where habitat and prey will support wolves.
Since 1993, no less than nine wolves have been killed in an area ranging from Massachusetts in the south to Newfoundland in the north/east. In March 2012, the first wolf in 100 years was killed in Newfoundland and in April 2012, the first wolf since 1876 was killed in New Brunswick. These animals follow wolves killed in Massachusetts, New York, Vermont(2), Maine(2), and Quebec’s Eastern Townships.
The evidence of a widespread effort by wolves to recolonize eastern North America can no longer be disputed. Regardless of their genetic “purity”, these large canids are attempting to fill an ecological niche that we humans created over a century ago. It appears that they are neither gray wolf nor eastern wolf, but a “new” wolf that is a hybrid of the two. This animal is roughly the size of the gray wolf and some 30-40 pounds larger than the eastern wolf. Based upon its size, it can prey on deer, moose and caribou. All three species benefit when they are tested by natural predators.
Some time ago our organization requested that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service work with Canada on a Bi-National Recovery Plan for this wolf. With the recent documentation of wolves in New Brunswick and Newfoundland, we believe such a plan is needed more than ever. We again ask the U.S . and Canada to work together to promote the natural recolonization of this animal. It is in the best interest not only of our environment, but of our economy.
Sincerely,
John M. Glowa, Sr., President
The Maine Wolf Coalition, Inc.
30 Meadow Wood Drive
South China, ME 04358
First wolves killed in more than a century in New Brunswick and Newfoundland
The recent killing of two 80+ pound wolves in areas of eastern Canada where they haven’t been seen for more than a century serves as evidence that wolves are attempting to recolonize much of eastern North America. Since 1993, no less than nine wolves have been killed over an area from Massachusetts, to upper New York State, across to Newfoundland. Read the rest of this entry »