COOPERATIVE WOLF DEPREDATION MANAGEMENT IN WISCONSIN

• Main Authors: Willging, Robert C., Wydeven, Adrian P.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 1997
• Subjects: predator control; gray wolves; Wisconsin; Environmental Health and Protection; Canis lupus; gray wolf
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/gpwdcwp/384; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/gpwdcwp/article/1383/viewcontent/13gpwillging.pdf

A depredation management plan was an important component of Federal and State recovery plans for the endangered gray wolf (Canis lupus) in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) entered into a cooperative agreement with USDA-APHIS-ADC to cooperatively manage wolf depredations. Response to complaints involving wolf-dog hybrids was also part of the cooperative agreement. From 1990-1996 ADC investigated 60 wolf complaints and confirmed 10 depredations. In the same time period, WDNR paid a total of $21,376 in compensation payments for 21 incidents of wolf depredations. Wolves may be downlisted from endangered to threatened within the next five years. As the wolf population increases so will the need for effective response to depredations.