Misinformation

Since pre-Roman times, the wolf has unjustly served as a symbol for evil and rapaciousness. A creature that could only have been created in the wilds of the human mind. This is the animal of myth and folklore found guarding Dracula's castle and lurking in the forests of Little Red Riding Hood.

While people have long been imparting wolves with the very worst – and at times the very best – of human traits, wolves have simply and instinctively been performing their biological role, being what scientists refer to as a keystone species.

Nature of wolves disputed ... Wolf biologists: each day is a constant battle against misinformation

Originally published Wednesday, December 29, 2004

By Michelle Dunlop - Times-News writer

MCCALL -- Tucked away on the edge of McCall not far from Lake Payette, a small trailer houses a big operation -- big in terms of inherent importance to the state of Idaho.

The operation -- the Nez Perce Tribe's wolf recovery program -- monitors gray wolves in the state. The tribe also coordinates educational programs on wolves in Idaho.

For members of the tribe's limited recovery team -- who operate on an even more limited budget -- every day is a constant battle against what they perceive as inaccurate information flowing to the public. Wolf opponents publicize misleading data that divides the public, they say.

"We've become very polarized on this issue," said Curt Mack, recovery leader for the tribe.

The dispute only worsens when bad information is intentionally circulated, wolf recovery supporters say. The information reaching citizens that comes from interest groups is basically misinformation, Mack said.

"These anti-wolf groups are publishing incorrect biology or exploiting extreme information," he said.

Mack and staff track wolves in Idaho. They keep records of data gathered about the total wolf population in the state, the size and location of packs, the number of litters produced each season and the number of wolves killed per year.

"We analyze the figures to look at trends," Mack said.

Packs and Population

"It's just one of those misconceptions about wolves that these packs get larger," Mack said.

People perceive if you reside in an area into which wolves move, the four-legged predators will end up on your doorsteps. That's just not true, Mack said.

"Wolves are territorial," he said. "That territory can only support so many wolves."

Pack behavior mystifies residents mainly because of bad publicity, wolf advocates say. Anti-wolf organizations, said Jim Holyan, a wolf biologist for the tribe, would have the public believe wolf packs produce significantly higher numbers of new pups every year.

"People get these impressions that wolves mate and mate and mate," Holyan said.

Generally, a pack produces only one litter of pups per year. The alpha male and alpha female mate in February and are the only animals in the pack to do so. Occasionally, a pack will produce two litters in a year, Mack said.

"Pack size pretty much stabilizes," Mack said. "It's common that each pack produces a litter each year."

There is solid evidence, Mack said, that multiple litters have occurred but with great infrequency. Out of the 147 litters produced in the past 10 years, Mack suspects at least two litters, possibly four came from females who gave birth to more than one litter in a year.

However, wolf opponents portray those rare cases of multiple litters as commonplace, Holyan said.

"You can show mathematically fairly quickly that it's not true," he said as he brings up a spreadsheet he has used to dispute what he calls misinformation spread by wolf opponents.

Limiting factors also keep wolf packs from expanding too significantly. Besides the wolves' territorial nature, food supply limits pack expansion. A pack's territory only provides forage for a certain amount of wolves.

"Somebody's not getting enough to eat or there's not enough room," Holyan said.

Wolf Prey

"They're wildlife terrorists."

"They'll attack humans."

Mack has heard many stories about how and what wolves prey upon. Anti-wolf groups claim wolves commonly surplus kill, or kill other animals for sport, not food. Similar to information spread about wolves producing multiple litters, Mack said, wolf opponents are exploiting atypical wolf behavior to create fear within the populace.

"Wolves do surplus kill," Mack said. "But it only occurs in unusual situations."

Wolves will conduct surplus kills when livestock or ungulates are bunched up en mass. Bands of sheep trigger an innate chase response in wolves, Mack said. Wolves can kill sheep with ease, leading the wolves to kill more than they can eat at times.

Wolves often put themselves at risk when they kill for food, Holyan said. Wolves can be injured or killed when trying to take down elk, bison or cattle.

"It's not like wolves are out there just cruising around killing for fun," Holyan said. "It's inherently dangerous."

However, anti-wolf activists say that wolves are wiping out wildlife populations in the state. The situation, they say, left unchecked could turn grim.

"It's based on faulty ecology," Mack said. "They spread all of this propaganda culminating in, 'Don't leave your kids outside because the wolves are going to eat them.'"

For the record, Holyan said, wolves do not view humans as a food source. In fact, Holyan said, he has crawled into a den of wolf pups only to have the pups' mother run away. When Holyan has monitored wolf packs, the animals have never threatened him.

"They know you're there, but it just doesn't seem to be a big deal to them," Holyan said. "They're just like people."