TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Officials are in the process of relocating six to eight mainland wolves to Isle Royale National Park, a first step toward rebuilding a depleted population of the predators that help keep the Lake Superior island’s ecology in balance.
Superintendent Phyllis Green says federal, state and tribal specialists are trapping six to eight gray wolves in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation in Minnesota over the next four to five weeks.
The animals will be given a health exam, fitted with tracking collars and flown to the park.
Wolves have wandered Isle Royale since the late 1940s, helping keep the wilderness archipelago’s moose population under control. But their numbers have recently plummeted: only two remain.
Officials plan to take 20 to 30 wolves to the park in the next three years.
A female wolf emerges from her crate on the island to begin exploring her new home.
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