Wolf researchers tracked hundreds of animals across Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin and found humans caused the majority of recorded deaths, the paper published in Global Ecology and Conservation reported, as summarized by FOX 9.
The study reported that 65 percent of recorded wolf deaths were human caused, with illegal kills accounting for 38 percent, legal kills 14 percent, and vehicle collisions 10 percent, as reported by FOX 9.
Outside human causes, the study found 19 percent of deaths were natural and 16 percent were of unknown cause, according to the same report.
Researchers noted illegal killings peaked in mid-November during deer hunting season, and they concluded federal protections have not successfully deterred poachers or reduced illegal kill rates, the paper says, as reported by FOX 9.
The study also addresses the complex relationship between legal hunting and illegal killing, saying some analyses have linked legal harvest to reduced poaching while other evidence shows legal harvest has correlated with increased illegal kills, the researchers write in the paper.
The authors added that monitoring and enforcement challenges make it unlikely legal harvest alone would eliminate illegal killing, and they wrote, "Previous studies reported reductions in illegal mortality during periods of state-led management that included legal wolf hunting, but evidence supporting this is controversial."
Yellowstone Pup Incident And Pack Behavior
A separate incident in Yellowstone National Park drew attention after a black collared wolf pup was filmed carrying off a grizzly bear warning sign posted by the park's bear management team, the park reported via social and local outlets.
Taylor Rabe, a wolf technician for the nonprofit conservation group Yellowstone Forever, captured the clip and said the pup crossed the road to rejoin its pack but became distracted by the sign and treated it like a toy.
The pup belongs to the Junction Butte pack, described as about a dozen animals with six yearlings among them, and the pack den sits within view of the Northeast Entrance Road near Gardiner, Montana, according to National Park Service information cited in coverage.
Rabe wrote on Instagram that pups often linger near smelly carcasses or ponds and that the behavior of playing with objects happens frequently when pups are away from adult supervision.
The International Wolf Center commented that pups play with "toys" like bones, feathers, or skins of dead animals and that this play helps them learn skills used when they begin hunting small animals and later join larger hunts at around six months.
