The Fish and Wildlife Service is proud to present this bulletin describing an experimental attempt to re-establish an endangered species in part of its native range. Two States, a Federal agency, a university, and two private conservation groups pooled their resources to make the project possible. This effort exemplifies the type of cooperation the Department of the Interior believes is imperative in beginning the gigantic task of trying to save and restore the threatened and endangered animals

Two male and two female eastern timber wolves ( Canis lupus lycaon ), live-trapped in Minnesota were released in March 1974 near Huron Mountain in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Their movements were monitored by aerial radio-telemetry. The wolves separated into a group of three and a single animal after release. The single, a young female, remained in the release region in an area of 346 square miles (896 km²). The pack of three moved generally westward for 13 days and then explored a 1,631 sq

The eastern timber wolf ( Canis lupus lycaon ) originally occurred throughout the eastern United States and Canada but is now extinct in most of the United States. The only substantial population left inhabits northern Minnesota (Fig. 1). The estimated wolf population in the Superior National Forest of northeastern Minnesota in winter 1972–73 was about 390 (Mech 1973), and a tentative population estimate for the entire state is 500 to 1,000 (Mech and Rausch 1975). A well known population of abou

The area selected for the release of the translocated wolves was the Huron Mountain area (Fig. 2) in northern Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (47° N Latitude; 88° W Longitude). This is one of the largest roadless tracts in Michigan, and has one of the lowest year-around densities of resident humans. Much of the area is owned by the Huron Mountain Club, on which accessibility is restricted. Fig. 2.—Range of the wolf in Upper Michigan in 1973, and the release point (from Hendri

The general procedure for this study was to attempt to capture an intact pack of wolves in Minnesota, fit each animal with a radio-collar (Cochran & Lord 1963), release them in northern Michigan, and follow their fate through aerial and ground radio-tracking (Kolenosky and Johnston 1967). A pack was selected from an area near Ray, Minnesota (Fig. 3), south of International Falls (48° N Latitude, 93° W Longitude), where wolf hunting and trapping were legal. Two male and two female wolves

Wolves No. 11, 12, and 13 were captured in Minnesota within a mile (1.6 km) of each other, and No. 11 and 12 were taken in the same trap set 12 days apart; Wolf No. 10 was caught approximately 7.5 miles (12.1 km) southeast of the others (Table 2). All were judged to be thin but in good condition. Females No. 10 and 11 were introduced into the same pen on January 23. No. 11 was reluctant to enter the pen containing No. 10 while several observers were around, but entered within 15 minutes after al

Wolves No. 11, 12, and 13 undoubtedly were members of the same pack. This conclusion is based on the fact that they did not fight when placed together in captivity, that they freely intermixed while penned, that No. 11 and No. 12 copulated, and that all three wolves generally traveled as a unit after their release. No. 11 and No. 12 were always located together from a few days after their release until the death of No. 12. Temporary splitting, as with No. 13 is a normal occurrence in wild wolf p

Three principal conclusions can be drawn from the results of this experiment: (1) It is possible to transplant a pack of wild wolves into a new range. That new range, however, must be large enough to permit some initial wandering. The animals cannot be expected to establish a home range centered on or even including the point of release. (2) The habitat in Upper Michigan apparently is adequate to support wolves, in terms of food and cover, for the carcasses of the two experimental wolves that co

This project was a cooperative effort among the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northern Michigan University, the Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation, and the National Audubon Society. The Michigan and Minnesota Departments of Natural Resources provided the legal permits and logistical support necessary for the transplant. The Fish and Wildlife Service assisted in the planning and fund-raising for the ov

Brown, C. E. 1936. Rearing wild animals in captivity, and gestation periods. J. Mammal. 17:10–13. Burkholder, B. L. 1959. Movements and behavior of a wolf pack in Alaska J. Wildl. Manage. 23:1–11. Cheatum, E. L. 1949. Bone marrow as an index of malnutrition in deer. N. Y. State Conservationist 3(5):19–22. Cochran, W. W., and R. D. Lord. 1963. A radio-tracking system for wild animals. J. Wildl. Manage. 27:9–24. DeVos, A. 1949. Timber wolves ( Canis lupus lycaon ) killed by cars on Ontario highway