State enlists public to search for wolves in northern lower Michigan

• State officials want the public’s help looking for wolves in the northern Lower Peninsula
• There is no evidence of an established population south of the Mackinac Bridge, but lone roamers occasionally turn up
• The wolf survey will run from Feb. 17 to March 10

State officials want the public’s help looking for endangered gray wolves in the northern Lower Peninsula, though they say there’s a “distinct possibility” that none will be found.

After habitat loss and bounty hunting erased Michigan’s wolf population in the early 1900s, the animals returned to the Upper Peninsula in the 1990s after the Endangered Species Act made it illegal to kill them. 

The Upper Peninsula population now numbers at least 768, but credible Lower Peninsula sightings remain rare. 

“To our knowledge, wolves have not successfully re-established themselves in the Lower Peninsula,” said Brian Roell, large carnivore specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Still, the agency occasionally surveys for their presence. 

Related:

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• Wolf wars: As Michigan packs grow, a battle brews over killing the predators
• Michigan weighs criteria for wolf hunts if they're delisted as endangered

Members of the public can report sightings, tracks or other evidence here from next Monday, Feb. 17, through March 10, or by contacting Tim Riley at the DNR’s Grayling field office at 989-370-7313 or RileyT6@michigan.gov.

While wolves can and do sometimes roam vast distances from their home range, reaching the Lower Peninsula is difficult because the Straits of Mackinac pose a barrier except during short windows when they freeze over.

“Even yesterday, when I went over the bridge, there was open water down there,” Roell said. “The likelihood of a wolf wanting, one, to go across there, and then encountering open water and wanting to go into it and then crawl out of it, just doesn't seem likely.”

Last year, a wolf killing in southern Michigan’s Calhoun County prompted a criminal investigation, after evidence surfaced that the animal may have been trapped and relocated.

Other credible evidence of wolves in the Lower Peninsula has all come from counties near the Mackinac Bridge. That includes a wolf killed by a trapper in Presque Isle County in 2004, scat collected in Emmet County in 2014, and two unconfirmed reports in Kalkaska and Montmorency counties in 2019.

The vast majority of suspected sightings reported to the DNR turn out to be coyotes or dogs.

Still, Roell said the northern lower contains “some limited suitable habitat that could potentially support a small wolf population.”

During this year’s survey, officials hope the new technology of environmental DNA can make their results more reliable. The technology allows scientists to extract DNA from the environment — for example, a footprint in the snow — to determine whether it came from a wolf or just a large dog. 

Those reporting evidence of wolves should do so quickly so biologists can look into it while tracks, scat or other evidence is still fresh. Photos of tracks should include a ruler showing their size.