ROYL0405c3 — Wolves in Rock Harbor, Isle Royale in 2009.
The longest running predator-prey study in the world revealed Tuesday that “the time has passed” to save the nearly extinct wolves on Isle Royale by introducing a process called genetic rescue.
Only two wolves remain on the Lake Superior island, said Michigan Technological University scientists Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich in their report, and the idea of introducing new breeding wolves “represents a misunderstanding of the underlying genetic processes,” they said in a news release about what has been a 58-year study of the wolves and moose on the island.
Peterson and Vucetich had previously been among the most ardent supporters of genetic rescue. They counted three wolves in the same study a year ago.
“Last year there was every reason to believe wolves were destined for extinction and moose are destined to grow rapidly in the near future,” Vucetich said in the news release. “This year, we did not observe anything to make us think that circumstance has changed.”
Source: Researchers: Too late to save current Isle Royale wolves | Duluth News Tribune