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Recreational Safety and Hunter Education
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The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is the largest of the 40-plus wild species of canids, which also include coyotes, fox and jackals. Adult wolves in Michigan generally weigh 70-80 pounds, with some exceptionally large animals approaching 100 pounds. Adult wolves are about 6 feet long from nose to end of tail and stand 30-34 inches tall at the shoulder. They have large feet, with tracks that generally measure3.5 inches wide by 4 inches long.Gray wolves have long legs, allowing them to move fast (up to 38 mph),and can maintain a jogging gate for hours, allowing them to travel far in search of food. They also have large skulls and jaws that are well suited to feeding on large mammals.
The gray wolf is characterized by varying mixtures of white with shades of black, gray, cinnamon and brown on the upper parts of the animal. The wolf’s back is usually more profoundly black, and the muzzle, ears and limbs have cinnamon coloration as well.
The life of a wolf is centered on a distinct family unit or pack. The pack is led by a dominant breeding pair – the “alpha” pair. A pack is typically comprised of these two dominant animals, their pups from the current year, siblings from previous litters and occasionally other wolves that may or may not be related to the alpha pair.
Wolves maintain territories. Howling between packs and scent-marking along territory edges are the principal means of spacing. Wolf pack territories in the U.P. average 98 square miles.
The wide range of habitats in which wolves can thrive reflects their adaptability and includes forests, tundra and grasslands. In the rugged landscape and dense forests of the U.P., white-tailed deer are the primary prey for wolves. Smaller animals such as snowshoe hare and ruffed grouse make up small percentages of their diet because they are difficult to capture and provide little energy return. During spring and early summer, beaver become an important food source for wolves. In Michigan, wolves are the only predator capable of killing an adult moose, although mortality studies show wolf predation is not a major factor in overall moose deaths.
Wolves typically reach sexual maturity at 22 months of age. Mating takes place in February, dens are dug in March and pups are born in mid- to late April. Litter sizes usually include about four to six pups. Pups are born with their eyes and ears closed and lack the ability to properly regulate their body temperature. Pups’ eyes open when they are about two weeks old. At approximately three weeks, pups emerge from their dens and can be found playing nearby. Pups are weaned at approximately nine weeks and moved to a rendezvous site. By the time pups are about five months old, they are nearly as large as an adult wolf.
The wolf has been in the Great Lakes region since the melting of the last glacier and is native to the land known as Michigan. Research indicates wolves were once present in all Michigan counties. Throughout the history of aboriginal peoples of Michigan, wolves figured prominently in tribal culture and beliefs. For example, Maahiingun (the wolf) is a sacred clan animal among the Anishinaabe people (Ojibwe).
European werewolf mythology, fairy tales and religious beliefs, along with views that wolves were incompatible with human civilization, resulted in the persecution of wolves in Michigan and the rest of the U.S. This led to the near extermination of wolves in the contiguous U.S. Congress passed a wolf bounty in 1817 in the Northwest Territories, which included what is now Michigan. A wolf bounty was passed by the first Michigan Legislature in 1838. The bounty continued until the period between 1922 and 1935, when a state trapper system was in effect. The bounty was reinstated in 1935 and repealed in 1960, only after wolves were nearly eliminated from the state. In 1965, the Michigan Legislature granted wolves full legal protection.
Sporadic breeding and occasional immigration of wolves from more secure populations in Ontario and Minnesota likely maintained the small number of wolves in the U.P. In March 1974,four wolves from Minnesota were released in Marquette County but all died as a result of direct human activities. In the late1980s, wolves likely from Minnesota and Wisconsin began to re-colonize the western and central portions of the U.P. Michigan's wolf population grew fairly steadily until 2011 when it stabilized.
Wolves were first added to the federal endangered species list in 1974after being extirpated from the Lower Peninsula by the 1930s and nearly disappearing from the Upper Peninsula by 1960.
In 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service down listed gray wolves to a threatened species. In the subsequent years, federal protections for wolves were lifted (removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species) and reinstated on several occasions, through political action and court rulings.
On Oct. 29, 2020, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced it was removing gray wolves from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in the lower 48 states. The action took effect on Jan. 4, 2021. Then, in February 2022, a federal court ruling put wolves in Michigan back on endangered species list, where they remain today.
Because Wolves are currently protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, they can only be killed if they are a direct and immediate threat to human life. If an animal is killed, the incident must be reported to the DNR.
