Climate Change Is Killing The Wolves Of Isle Royale.

When it comes to the wilderness of Isle Royale National Park, located in the northwest corner of Lake Superior, the wolves have always had the run of things.

Only accessible to humans by boat or seaplane, Isle Royale is the least-visited national park in the continental United States. Last year, only 16,746 visitors made the journey.

Isle Royale National Park. The least visited National Park, the population of 1200 moose exceeds the number of people for most of the year. The park preserves 132,018 acres of land-based wilderness. Photo via Getty.

But climate change is threatening the wild wolves who once lived with moose in blissful solitude in this remote preserved land, many say. Ice bridges once connected Isle Royale to Ontario, allowing animals to cross back and forth almost every other year.

Since scientists began keeping records in 1973, ice accumulation in the Great Lakes has declined by 30 percent. An ice bridge may only form once every 15 years now. Lake Superior is warming faster than any large lake on the planet.

With an ice bridge becoming increasingly rare, those wolves have become “critically isolated,” the Detroit Free Press reported. As many as 50 once roamed the island, though scientists think 25 is a more reasonable baseline number, according to theWildlife News.

Only eight adult wolves are left. Two or three pups may have been born this summer.

In this photo released by Michigan Technological University, a gray wolf is shown on Isle Royale National Park in northern Michigan, Feb. 24, 2006. (AP Photo/Michigan Technological University, John Vucetich) 

The wolves’ and moose hunter-hunted relationship is the longest continuous study of any predator-prey system in the world. The park’s research project notes how uncharacteristically warm temperatures can greatly disturb the balance between moose and wolf pack populations on Isle Royale

TO BE CONTINUED ON

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/31/isle-royale-wolves_n_4181444.html?utm_hp_ref=climate-change

 

English: Isle Royale National Park Tobin Trail, June 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Related articles

• Wolves, Moose and Climate Change on Isle Royale (thebufflehead.org)
• Isle Royale Wolves (mammalwatching.wordpress.com)
• The Wolves of Isle Royale (learningofwolves.wordpress.com)
• Should the declining inbred wolves of Isle Royale N.P. be augmented? (thewildlifenews.com)