DNR Estimates Wolf Population Has Dropped By 19 Percent Over Past Year

The Department of Natural Resources is estimating that the population of grey wolves in Wisconsin has dropped by about 19 percent over the last year, following a record-breaking wolf hunt in 2013.

The DNR says its preliminary late-winter count of wolves shows a minimum of 658 to 687 wolves across the state — a decrease of 19 percent from last year’s preliminary count. The agency says the new population estimate is within the range predicted by University of Wisconsin population models from when the state set a wolf killing quota for last fall’s hunt. During that hunt, 257 wolves were shot or trapped.

The DNR also says the late-winter count takes place at the wolf population’s lowest point of the year, just before pups are born. The birth of pups can temporarily increase the number of wolves by nearly double.

A coalition of state humane societies and conservation groups is questioning the process the DNR used to come up with this year’s count. Coalition attorney Jodi-Habush-Sinykin says DNR staff shut the public out of this year’s meeting on the wolf estimate.

“There’s really no way to test the accuracy or reliability of how they came up with that number,” said Habush-Sinykin. “As such, it’s really no different from a ballot box being opened and the votes counted behind closed doors.”

The DNR has defended the closed door meeting as a way to protect the scientific integrity of the data, including from hunters and trappers who might want to know more about the specific location of radio-collared wolves. Habush-Sinykin says those concerns could have been dealt with another way.

A wolf advisory committee is scheduled to recommend a wolf kill quota for this fall during a meeting next month. The DNR Board may vote on the recommendation in June.