History & Status of the Bird Sanctuary Wolf
Pack
By
Greg Kessler, Department of Natural Resources
The Bird Sanctuary pack
originated from a young female wolf (#266) that initially was a member of the
Crotte Creek pack. She was trapped on August 7, 1996 and fitted with a radio
telemetry collar. Wolf 266 was a yearling at the time of her capture and
stayed with the Crotte Creek Pack until December of 1997 at which time she
dispersed eastward. She was seen with another wolf on December 29, 1997 near
the area currently known as the Bird Sanctuary Pack. Winter track surveys
that year indicated breeding activity and summer howling surveys indicated she
produced 4 pups…another wolf pack was born!
Wolf 266 produced 2 more
litters of pups, 5 in 1999 and 4 in 2000. Then in late summer and early fall
of 2000 she began exhibiting erratic movement patterns that appeared something
may be wrong. The pilots located her collar on mortality mode on October 30,
2000 and she was confirmed dead on November 1st. She was found one
mile west of Jackson Box trail, slightly northwest of her normal home range
area. She appeared to have died of injuries from other wolves. During her 4
years "on the air", she provided over 351 locations taken approximately once
or twice weekly as part of the
Highway 53 Wolf Study.
It was two years after
the death of wolf 266 before another wolf in this pack was trapped and
collared. During this period monitoring was completed by
volunteer trackers that provided
estimates of 4 wolves during midwinter of 2001 and 3-5 in winter of 2002.
Despite producing litters every year, the Sanctuary pack size fluctuates
widely throughout the year and ultimately settles into 3-6 wolves by
mid-winter. Like all Wisconsin wolves, the Sanctuary Pack is subject to
natural controls that limit pack size through dispersal and mortality from
vehicles, other wolves, disease, and gunshot.
Wolf 266 was replaced by
alpha female 447, which was trapped on June 21, 2002. Wolf 447 was trapped
near the car-kill deer drop off site. This pack appears to be taking
advantage of the easy meals provided by the frequent deliveries of venison.
Annual
home range
for this pack appears to be about 35 square miles based on minimal area
estimates from 31 weekly locations. This includes the area from Highway 53
just (north of Gordon to just south of Solon Springs) and extending westward
to Jackson Box Trail/West Mail Road. The vast majority of the time is spent
north of the flowage with an occasional excursion southward to the Person
Lake-WhiteFish Lake area.
Wolf 447 was lactating
at the time of capture and appears to have raised 2-3 pups successfully that
year, with a total of 5 members in her pack during the winter of 2002-2003.
Her movements were very constricted during April-May 2003 so it is likely she
produced another litter of pups but no howling surveys have been conducted to
verify this.
