10.2018 CWWC Newsletter

COLORADO

WOLF & WILDLIFE CENTER OCTOBER 2018

Hello fellow wolf pack members!!

CERTIFIED BY THE

The Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization certified by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). Look for this logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things.

The contents of the material we include in our newsletter does not necessarily reflect the views of Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center. We collect information from sources that are from other organizations, the web, news feeds, and/or other sources. We choose articles that are in the related field of education and conservation.

To subscribe to our newsletter, visit our website at

wolfeducation.org and sign up on the newsletter page.

Due to past and more frequent wildfires, the need for an onsite evacuation building idea has been planted, and now we are going to make it bloom. We are building a fireproof/smoke proof building for our animals. This building will be constructed of fire grade concrete block and will be able to contain all of our exhibit animals (wolves, fox, coyotes and our small animals that we rehabilitate) and our domestics such as our dogs, cat, chickens, ferrets and love birds.

The purpose of this building is to save all of our animals in the event of a fire and by having it on site, it will help to eliminate the stress of moving them to another facility or our current evacuation location where the road could be closed if the fire is in the west.

This project will be close to $250,000, so we need your help. We have started a Go Fund Me campaign where you can help us to pay for this much needed building. Your donation of $25.00 or more will be recognized by adding your name to “The Ark for Animals” on a name plaque.

You can donate by going to our GO FUND ME link. https://www.gofundme.com/noah039s-ark-for-the-animals

Hello, I am Lauren Gould and I am a member of troop 70178 who helped with the fire mitigation a few weekends ago. On behalf of all of us I would just like to say thank you for letting us help out and for the tour. We hope that our work benefited the wolves.

– Your pack was amazing and did a wonderful job with the much needed fire

mitigation. Thank you very much!! Darlene Vicki and Orenda

HELP WANTED! NOW HIRING TOUR GUIDE FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY

Please go to wolfeducation.org and read our requirements under “Committed Volunteer” to see if you qualify. *Please note that the committed volunteer application requirements are the same as a paid staff employee.

You can call for an interview at 719-687-9742.

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COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | 3 |

Minnesota wolves moved to Isle Royale She slowly turned her head from side to side, sniffed the island air, and 20 seconds later, the 75-pound, four-year-old gray wolf darted out of a small crate to explore her new home, Isle Royale National Park.

The female wolf, along with a five-year old male, are the first part of a broader effort to relocate 20 to 30 wolves to the remote island on Lake Superior — an attempt to rebuild the island’s decimated wolf population and restore the predator-prey balance in the park between wolves and moose.

The wolves were captured recently from different packs on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in far northeastern Minnesota. They have thick coats of light tan, gray, and white fur with black markings. They were flown to Isle Royale, vaccinated, fitted with GPS collars, and released at two different sites on the island.

This photo provided by the National Park Service shows NPS staff unloading a crated gray wolf from a United States Fish & Wildlife Service aircraft on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018 at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan.

National Park Service via AP

f l o W o Colorad r e t n e C e f i l d l i &W l a c o l r u o s t r o supp ! s r e t h fire fig

“We have been planning this relocation operation with our partners and are very pleased with the progress so far,” said park superintendent Phyllis Green.

“Releasing these two wolves on the island is the first step to restoring the ecological dynamic in the park.”

Moose and wolves came to the island in the early 1900s, and their populations have seesawed back and forth ever since.

The wolves reached a peak of about 50 animals, before inbreeding and disease caused the population to crash to only two animals.

Without hunting pressure from wolves, the moose population on the island tripled over the past decade to around 1,500 animals, which in turn has threatened the island’s vegetation with their unchecked appetites.

The Park Service first floated the idea of a genetic rescue by relocating wolves to the island in 2015, and then conducted a lengthy environmental study in which it weighed letting nature take its course in a federal wilderness area, versus stepping in to try to rescue the wolf population.

Officials approved the plan in June; it calls for relocating up to six wolves this fall. The entire project is expected to last three to five years, and cost $2 million to monitor over the next 20 years.

– Dan Kraker - MPR NEWS

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COYOTE RESCUE VEHICLE NEEDED!

This photo provided by the National Park Service shows a 4-year-old female gray wolf emerging from her cage at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. The wolf -- along with a a 5-year-old male -- was flown to the park Wednesday from the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in Minnesota to kick off a multi-year effort to restore the predator species on the Lake Superior island chain. National Park Service via AP

ICRC has launched a campaign in hopes of raising the funds or acquiring a new/used transport vehicle, as the current van has required extensive repairs with more on the way. The van is used for meat pickups to feed our animals, veterinary transport, and coyote placement transport. We are in urgent need of a reliable van to continue our work here.

Please take a moment to visit the campaign and donate or share, as we can always use more exposure.

Thank you for helping us save coyotes - Jami Hammer, Director ICRC

https://www.gofundme.com/6b573ko COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | 5 |

Two valley men accused of killing endangered Mexican gray wolf ARIZONA — Two men who live in the valley are facing serious charges after allegedly killing an endangered Mexican gray wolf near Alpine last December.

Documents from the United States District Court of Arizona (Magistrate Judge Deborah M. Fine) show that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Robert Romero filed one count of violating the Endangered Species Act against Jason William Kunkel, of Peoria, and Donald Justin Davis, 40, of Phoenix, executed on Aug. 16 in Phoenix and filed against them Sept. 24.

Kunkel, Represented by Attorney Luke Mulligan, with Davis, represented by Daniel Kaiser made their initial appearance Sept. 5. and again on Sept. 20 when they had the complaints read against them.

They were in a Prescott Division courtroom in Coconino County again Oct. 2 when their attorneys requested and were granted a continuance.

According to federal law governing endangered species, “Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this chapter … shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $50,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. Any person who knowingly violates any provision of any other regulation issued under this chapter shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.”

In his complaint against the two men, Romero says Kunkel shot a female Mexican gray wolf on Dec. 5 of last year with a Remington 30-06 from a distance of about 150-200 yards in a meadow near Dipping Vat Spring in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.

Court documents indicate that Kunkel and Davis (with Davis’ father) were in a hunting camp starting Dec. 1. The two younger men had been drawn for elk in Arizona Game and Fish Management Unit 1 near Alpine in Apache County.

Another group of people at a nearby hunt camp reported to Game and Fish officials seeing a Mexican gray wolf on Dec. 1 near their camp that appeared to be stalking young kids in the camp that afternoon.

The wolf was reportedly watching the kids from a crouched position behind large log about 30 yards from the youngsters. Arizona Game and Fish Agent Sam Williams was reportedly told by one of the adult campers that he was able to yell and scare it away. According to the court documents, Williams explained to the person reporting the sighting that if, and only if, the wolf appeared to be an immediate threat, they could kill it as a last resort. They would need to report the killing to AZGFD immediately so an investigation could start. | 6 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER

The campers making that report to Williams then reportedly told him that on Dec. 5 Kunkel and Davis came into their camp and told them Kunkel shot and killed the wolf that morning and left its body in the meadow nearby if they wanted to see it. The campers reportedly said “no” to viewing the body and allegedly told Kunkel and Davis they needed to report it to authorities immediately.

But Kunkel and Davis apparently left camp early the next morning, Dec. 6, to head home to Peoria and Phoenix without reporting it to AZGFD as required by law. On the same day, an investigation into the fatality began with AZGFD officials gathering evidence at the scene of the killing.

Among evidence found was a blood stained top, a business card, a crushed aluminum can, a fixed blade knife, samples of blue cloth and some elk hair from an elk killed by Davis. The body of the wolf was also still there laying on its left side with a bullet exit wound just forward of its right hip. Further inspection of the site produced some boot laces that were also collected as evidence. The investigation showed the wolf was shot from about 164 yards away

by Kunkel, who later told investigators he killed it with his Remington 770 bolt action .30-06 mounted with a scope from a standing position behind a tree.

Investigators found at least five photos of the dead wolf and a few of it with Kunkel posing beside it that were on Kunkel’s cell phone and taken into evidence.

A forensic report concluded on Feb. 13 shows the wolf was killed Dec. 5 by a bullet fired from Kunkel’s rifle.

Kunkel reportedly told investigators it was the first time he killed anything, and that no one in the adjacent camp told him he needed to report it to AZGFD. He voluntarily surrendered his rifle to investigators.

Next they interviewed Davis, who said he had nothing to do with the killing other than being on an elk hunt with his father and Kunkel. During the interview Davis told the AZGFD that he and Kunkel were made aware of the Dec. 1 wolf sighting near camp by the people camping nearby. He said they told him and the others that the wolf was as close as 10 feet to two young girls playing in the camp who were completely unaware of its presence because it was crouched behind a large log.

Davis said that none of the wolves they saw during their hunt had collars and that neither he nor Kunkel had any safety concerns about them. He told investigators he did not kill the wolf and that it

was Kunkel who shot and killed it when he stepped away briefly.

During his interview, Kunkel contradicted Davis’ comments saying Davis was there the whole time and even asked Kunkel if his rifle was loaded when they spotted the wolf in the meadow near their camp early morning Dec. 5.

Davis said he heard the gunshot when Kunkel killed the wolf and returned to see it laying dead in the meadow and Kunkel holding his rifle. Davis said he knew Mexican gray wolves are protected in Arizona and repeated he was not with Kunkel when he shot and killed it and that they never even discussed shooting or killing any wolf if they felt their lives were in danger.

He admitted that Kunkel and his father used their cell phones to take “trophy” photos of the dead wolf as momentos of their hunt and Kunkel’s first kill.

Then in a final interview on Jan. 8 of this year, Davis admitted that on Dec. 5 he and Kunkel were deciding if they were going to break camp and go home after a trip to a meat processor in the area with Davis’ elk kill because it was starting to snow. Davis said he left camp briefly adding that when he walked back he and Kunkel saw the wolf near a green water tank at Dipping Vat Spring and tried to scare it away. But, he said, the wolf kept approaching them and he asked Kunkel if his rifle was loaded in case they needed to kill the wolf.

Kunkel told him it was in the truck and Davis reportedly got it and handed it to Kunkel who allegedly aimed it at the approaching wolf and killed it with one shot. Davis told the investigator he was not concerned for his safety at any time and that when asked

by Kunkel if he should shoot it he told his friend it was his decision to make. Davis said they both knew at the time it was a protected Mexican gray wolf and that it was an endangered species.

Asked why he did not report it to authorities immediately after Kunkel allegedly killed the wolf, Davis reportedly told them it was Kunkel’s responsibility and not his because he did not kill it.

Subject: Thanks For The Tour!

And thanks for letting me take this cute pic of your ferrets!!!

J. Andersen

A REALLY big peace pipe for the world

– By Mike Leiby The Independent COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | 7 |

And they call it: The Last Frontier as if wildlife was preserved.

GMU2 Wolf Harvest Quota Set at 45

Urgent! Low-Content Female In Lincoln, Nebraska

NEEDS NEW HOME!

(SitNews) Craig, Alaska - Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), announced the Game Management Unit (GMU) 2 wolf harvest quota for regulatory year (RY) 2018 will be set at 45 wolves.

ADF&G and the USFS currently manage wolves on Prince of Wales and associated islands, collectively known as GMU 2, for an annual harvest not to exceed the Guideline Harvest Level (GHL) in ADF&G regulation: 20 percent of the most recent unit-wide population estimate. Our primary goal for managing wolves in GMU 2 is to ensure a population that provides opportunity for a sustainable harvest. While legal harvest is only one of several factors influencing wolf numbers in GMU 2, it is the one under managers’ control.

Because dense forest cover makes estimating wolf numbers from aerial surveys impractical, ADF&G, with support from the USFS, estimates wolf abundance in GMU 2 using a DNA mark-recapture technique.

In 2017, ADF&G used the same large, northcentral Prince of Wales Island study area as in 2014-2016.

ADF&G also collaborated with the Hydaburg Cooperative Association (HCA) to establish an additional study area, monitored by HCA staff, adjacent to the southern boundary of the original study area. This collaboration effectively expanded the study area to approximately 80% of Prince of Wales Island and over 60% of the land area of GMU 2.

Data collected from October through December 2017 resulted in a GMU 2-wide population estimate of 225 wolves, with high confidence that the actual number of wolves in GMU 2 prior to the autumn 2017 hunting and trapping seasons was within the range, 198 to 264 wolves. This is the most current population estimate.

Results of the autumn 2017 survey were similar to those of the autumn 2016 survey, suggesting the rapid population growth from 2015 to 2016 has stabilized. ADF&G and the USFS attribute growth of the population to conservative harvest management since 2015. Based on documented growth of the population since 2014 and the most recent population estimate, the RY2018 GMU 2 harvest quota was set at 45 wolves, the maximum allowed by current regulation.

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One of three wolves sighted that was photographed on Prince of Wales in 2017. Photo By KEN ARRIOLA ©2017

Also, as in previous years, substantiated accounts of unreported, human-caused mortality will be counted toward the harvest quota.

Now that the wolf population has grown and appears stable in GMU 2, the January 2019 Alaska Board of Game meeting in Petersburg affords an opportunity to change how GMU 2 wolves are managed. Two proposals to change Unit 2 wolf harvest management have been submitted, including one by ADF&G (Proposal 43). This proposal asks the Board to establish a population objective range for GMU 2 wolves and to allow ADF&G to manage harvest to maintain the population within that range. Proposals affecting the Southeast Region can be viewed on the ADF&G Board’s website at; http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=gameboard.proposalbook.

The GMU 2 wolf hunting and trapping seasons for Federally-qualified subsistence users on Federal lands open on Sept. 1 and Nov. 15, respectively.

State wolf hunting and trapping seasons in GMU 2 open on Dec. 1. The length of the state seasons will depend on the number of wolves taken during the Federal hunting and trapping seasons prior to Dec. 1. The State and Federal seasons will be closed when managers believe harvest is approaching 45 wolves.

Karma is a low-content female between 5 and 7 years old. She is spayed and has no history of health problems. Karma is a “gentle giant” and has no aggression issues (food, toys or otherwise). She is good with all dogs, big and small. She does not attempt to escape. Karma currently lives on a farm in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is well adjusted to living at a home and is not suitable for sanctuary life.

Karma’s owner can no longer care for her due to his ongoing medical treatments.

Time is of the essence here. This is a heartbreaking situation and she needs our help. If any of you have the ability to find a home or rescue for this sweet girl, please contact her owner: Frank Fast rythmoflyfe@hotmail.com (402) 730-6700 Thank You! Keith Laposh - Education & Rescue Specialist - W.O.L.F. Sanctuary 970.416.9531/303.507.1524

COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | 9 |

ADOPTION CORNER

ADOPTION CORNER

Available from TCRAS · Teller County Regional Animal Shelter

Available from San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society slvaws.org · 719.587.woof (9663) · Non-Profit NO-KILL Shelter

tcrascolorado.com · 719.686.7707 · NO-KILL shelter in Divide, Colorado

Eugene AGE: 7 y 1 m 13 d SEX: Male/Neutered Grey Domestic Shorthair/Mix Hello there, my name is Eugene. I’m a laid back, distinguished older gentleman who is looking for a forever friend. I’m friendly and gentle, and my presence could turn any house into a home.

Stop by and meet me so we can be buddies!

Tova

AGE: 5 y 0 m 20 d SEX: Male/Neutered Tan/Black German Shepherd/Mix A handsome man who knows his manners.

Family was in the military and could not bring him with them. He really would like a home where that he can protect and be loved. What do you say?

Come by and visit with TOVA.

Sugar and Schultz

Sweet, sweet, sweet and oh so mellow! Sugar and Schultz were tied next to an abandoned camper without food, water and shelter. They love each other and would like a home together. They are 1 1/2 years old, spayed and neutered, all vaccinations. Lab/dobie mixes but only 45 pounds each. Good with children and other dogs. Cats unknown. Please call 719-587-WOOF (9663) or 719-588-5560.

SLVAWS ADOPTION FAIR Every Saturday 10am-4pm at the Petco in Colorado Springs at 5020 N. Nevada | 10 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER

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A NN U A L

Thanksgiving Day

TURKEY TOSS Thursday, November 22nd at 9 -11am

Be a part of feeding our wolf, coyote, and fox families.

Watch them enjoy their turkey dinner.

(No turkeys will be alive or harmed with this event)

ALL AGES WELCOME

$30 adults $15 kids 12 & under

RSVP

719.687.9742 (pre-paid event).

Limited space available.

COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER DIVIDE, CO 80814 wolfeducation.org 719.687.9742