Court uses flawed data in wolf case
By Richard Reeder, Cody Enterprise, October 5, 2009 [here]
An official involved in wolf reintroduction since the program began says the recent federal court ruling blocking delisting is using data that doesn’t reflect the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
Doug Smith, leader of the Yellowstone Grey Wolf Restoration Project, says studies from Isle Royale used by environmentalists and Judge Donald Molloy reflect a specific wolf population, not wolves in general.
“I worked on the Isle Royale project and those wolves are an isolated population,” Smith says. “They are extremely inbred because they have no other options.”
Isle Royale is a large island in Lake Superior, not a wide open range like Yellowstone Park and surrounding states.
“The environmentalists and Judge Molloy are using that population, which has deformities in their spinal column, as an example of inbreeding problems,” Smith says. “They say we have to avoid those mistakes, but those problems don’t apply here.”
“Isle Royale has a small gene pool and population,” he added. “We don’t think its a comparable argument.”
Smith says the small population size of Isle Royale doesn’t reflect the Yellowstone area.
“It’s a small population and will remain so because of its isolation,” he says. “The genetic argument in this region is moot because it isn’t Isle Royale.”
“We’ve tested the wolves in this region extensively and so far we haven’t found any problems,” he adds. “We’ve covered all the bases, and the future of wolves here won’t be the same as Isle Royale.”
Last Thursday in a talk about wolves to 200 people at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Smith said 2008 was a bad year for wolves being killed by other wolves.
“We saw wolves being killed by other wolves at double the rate of previous years,” he says. The reason is August through October are hard months because the prey is in great shape.
“As wolves spread out and search for prey they cross into each others territory,” he adds. “When that happens the fights will result in deaths.”
“But wolf-on-wolf kills don’t affect breeding,” Smith says.
“If wolves have a choice they won’t breed with a relative,” he says. “And they are smart and know who they are related to.”
“Wolves will wait to breed for one or two years before they inbreed,” he adds. “So in the Yellowstone area, there are enough wolves that they have more choices than relatives.”
Smith says a wolf from outside the pack will join a pack if there is a breeding vacancy.
“If a breeding male or breeding female from a pack is lost, a lone wolf will be allowed to join the pack and fill the void,” he says. “But if that wolf makes a mistake and tries to join without a vacancy, it might get killed.”
Smith says wolves understand how the pack system works in this case.
“A lone wolf will hang around and leave scent marks and howl,” he says. “Then the pack will howl back and contact is made.”
“The wolf may hang around a while before its allowed into the pack,” he adds. “Another way the breeding takes place is one lone male might meet a lone female and they form their own pack.”
Smith says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must let this attempt at delisting play out in the courts.
“No matter what happens, if it goes before Molloy we have to let him rule,” he says. “Then we can take it to the appeals process and argue before other judges who might not have the biases Molloy seems to have.”
“The last time, USFWS pulled the rule after the injunction was issued,” he adds. “We can’t do that this time. We have to be able to present the evidence and find out where the flaws are and what we have to correct.”
