Isle Royale Wolves and Moose

A pack of wolves surround a moose on Isle Royale. The moose ultimately warded off the attack.

Fostering Isle Royale's wilderness environment, its national park guardians do not intervene and prop up declining species or trim burgeoning populations, as is commonly done in wildlife management. Islands are ideal for scientific research studies because outside influences are more limited, and fewer species live on islands. Wolves and moose are Isle Royale's predator and prey species. The moose are thought to have swum from Canada about 1900. The wolves used an ice bridge in the cold winter of 1949. The pioneering Isle Royale wolf study is the world's longest-running predator-prey study. "Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale" have been conducted by wildlife biologists since 1959, first led by Durward Allen of Purdue, then by his student Rolf Peterson and now by Peterson's student John Vucetich. Peterson and Vucetich's academic program is in Michigan Technological University's forestry school.
Peterson points out how fortunate it is that Isle Royale is too far for many animals to reach, big enough to support wolves (from 19 to 30 a year), and small enough for researchers not to loose track of the moose. Winter researchers work on the island, making frequent flights over parts of the island, from mid January into mid March. Moose carcasses are photographed, to be picked up in summer by volunteers. They help clean the carcasses to be archived at Michigan Tech for nutritional and bone analysis.
All sorts of information, insight, and photos are on isleroyalewolf.org. The separate "overview" section gives clear, illustrated overviews of moose and wolves' lives and of the study in action. It shows how food and territory are paramount for wolves, who often walk 30 miles a day and also sleep a lot. 90% of their calories come from moose. It can be a week or more between meals. Moose must eat 40 pounds of plant materials a day in summer to feed their huge bodies and gain weight for winter. Standing in water saves calories and protects them from insects and heat. In winter moose must resort to eating spruce. That's why the island has so little. Photos of cute young wolves and moose are here. So are gory scenes of wolves bringing down a moose and tearing it apart.
Go to isleroyalewolf.org/home to access many other areas, including publications, people, artistic impressions of wolves and moose, "Winter Study Journal" with its dramatic photographs, a trailer of George Desort's outstanding Fortunate Wilderness film (focusing on the animals' perspectives; available for $20 on DVD), and photos of the Isle Royale Wolf team. (It includes an environmental philosopher, Michael P. Nelson of Michigan State University, whose main theme is "How ought we to live with nature?") The home page's center illustration leads to an insightful annotated graph of moose/wolf populations since 1959 and the probable reasons for the population swings.
"The Isle Royale wolf-moose study supplies a vital ecological baseline," says Yellowstone wolf project director Doug Smith. "Everything in science today is subtle, in details, with changes and threats like global climate change. Things are top down or bottom up or both. I can't imagine the study of ecology without Isle Royale out there."

Best of the Best U.P. Maps

Incredibly Useful!
Hunt's Map Guide to the Upper Peninsula • Favorite hikes, beaches, restaurants, shops, lighthouses, scenic drives, waterfalls, & much more
• 13 detailed U.P. maps
• Full color, on sturdy, water-resistant paper
• Folds out to 12”x38”
• Only $6.95
To learn more & buy online, click here