International Wolf Center

Students from Wilkin and Otter Tail counties spent the night with wolves this week.

Milan Drewlow, 4-H program coordinator for Wilkin County with the University of Minnesota Extension and four other adults chaperoned 23 students to the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn. Monday.  They participated in a two-day wolf sampler program, which entailed two on-site programs at the center and two field trips.

The students learned about the hunting and feeding behavior of the center's ambassador wolves and the history of wolves. They spent the night in front of the wolf viewing window.

Visitors to the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn., have the chance to get up close to the facility’s ambassador wolves. The hand-raised grey wolves are used to educate people about wolves and wolf survival. courtesy international wolf center

"We learned how wolves react to humans and about predator-prey relationships," Drewlow said. "We saw videos of wolves tracking deer, and learned how they work together as a pack."

Students went on a hike and identified trees and plants in the area, and that evening went on an expedition and learned how to howl like the wolves. The next morning students learned how radio collars are put on wolves to track them.

The center, which opened in 1993, has five ambassador wolves, which are captive animals and live on more than an acre of land. Three wolves are retired and live in a separate enclosure away from public view. The grey wolves come to the center as pups at about two weeks of age, said Jessica Edberg, information services director at the International Wolf Center. The animals allow visitors to observe wolf behaviors.

Italy: a boa captured near Lucca, a panther near Massa sought

Also in Tuscany, four cages were installed around the town of Gretaia, near Massa Marittima to try to capture a black panther, whose presence was confirmed Sunday.

A boa constrictor was captured Monday near Lucca while rangers have set up bait near Massa Marittima, Tuscany another tourist town to catch a black panther reported in the area, officials said.

The snake captured in the hills of Capannori, not far from Lucca, is a female of 5 or 6 years which measured 2.60 meters and weighing between 25 and 30 kg.

She bit a voluntary association of animal rights and an expert on reptiles came to help her capture but this animal is not poisonous, the two men have just received some care.

According to the association of environmental protection Anpan, the reptile had probably been abandoned several months ago after reaching dimensions that had to frighten the owner.

The reptile was captured by a satellite system developed by the specialist Cristino Pacini by including specific parameters for the animal (weight, length, speed).

Also last year in August, another 2.40 m boa constrictor was caught in woods near Capannori Anpan by volunteers.

Also in Tuscany, four cages were installed around the town of Gretaia, near Massa Marittima to try to capture a black panther, whose presence was confirmed Sunday.

Mayor Massa Linda Bai, has finalized the details of the transaction at a meeting with the Prefect of Grosseto and the rangers, the carabinieri, civil protection and wildlife experts.

The mayor plans to issue a special order advising residents and visitors not to approach within 500 meters of the cages and not to walk on foot, by bicycle or on horseback within 3 km of the area where the panther has been seen. In addition, it will be advisable to stop in or near forested areas of homes in ruins.

Experts said the panther initially reported by a couple of tourists on their property in Florence Prata, near Massa, is probably younger and perhaps accustomed to human presence. The carabinieri and police are trying to go back to its owner.

Rare Philippine Parrot Seized From Boat

Philippine authorities have seized a specimen of one of the world's rarest parrots after boarding a boat suspected of being involved in illegal wildlife trading, the coastguard said Wednesday.

The critically-endangered red-vented cockatoo, a foot-long (31-centimetre) white parrot found only in the Philippines, was seized along with 71 hill mynahs and 42 blue-naped parrots from a boat at the resort of
El Nido.

Coastguard and environmental protection officers boarded the vessel on Saturday before it was set to sail for Manila and found the birds, a coastguard statement said.

The authorities are seeking the owners of the cargo, while the boat captain was fined for carrying prohibited goods, it added.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature classifies the red-vented cockatoo, Cacatua haematuropygia, as critically endangered and estimates there are only 1,000 left in the wild.

It also classifies the blue-naped parrot, Tanygnathus lucionensis, another bird found only in the Philippines, as near-threatened due to trapping and loss of forest habitat.

Indira Dayang Widmann, programme officer for the Katala Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting the red-vented cockatoo, said at least 75 percent of the surviving members of the species were concentrated in the western province of Palawan, which includes El Nido.

"The bird is still being trafficked for the domestic pet trade," Widmann told AFP.

Tribesmen in Palawan trap cockatoos and sell them cheaply to middlemen who pass them on for as little as 2,000 pesos ($47), she said, even though trapping and trafficking in them is punishable by up to a million-peso ($24,000) fine.

Feds Release Study of Trapping Effects on Wolves

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal scientists have released a long-awaited study sparked by concerns about impacts of furbearer trapping on Mexican gray wolves reintroduced in the Southwest.

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the study for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish after former Gov. Bill Richardson issued an executive order last year banning trapping in the wolf recovery area in southwestern New Mexico.

State game commissioners recently voted to lift the ban.

Environmentalists were critical of the decision since the study had not yet been released to the public. They say two wolf deaths due to trapping since 1998 is enough to warrant a trapping ban.

New Mexico game officials argue that trapping incidents represent only a fraction of wolf injuries and mortalities compared to illegal shootings and vehicle collisions.

Madagascar's Giant Flightless Elephant Birds

Elephant birds

Madagascar's giant, flightless elephant birds were once a common sight on the island, certainly up until the 17th century. It is generally believed that the elephant bird's extinction resulted from human activity, perhaps not surprising when one of their giant eggs would have fed an entire family. The extinct elephant bird could grow to over ten feet tall and weigh in at around half a ton, with its eggs about 180 times the size of a chicken egg. They lived well in Madagascar until about 2,000 years ago, when humans first settled the island; then, about 1,000 years later, they were extinct. In an upcoming documentary, Sir David Attenborough says it wasn’t the skill of human hunters that caused the big bird’s demise:

“I doubt it was hunted to extinction – anyone who has seen an ostrich in a zoo knows that it has a kick which can open a man’s stomach and an enraged elephant bird, many times the size of an ostrich, must have been a truly formidable opponent.”

Instead, he says, humans probably killed off the elephant bird by eating all their eggs—someone stumbling on a nest and stealing one of it’s calorie-rich eggs could keep their family happy for several meals.Attenborough discovered the egg shells on a visit to Madagascar in the 1960′s. For the documentary he returns to the area which has changed dramatically in the 50 years since then, he told The Telegraph:

“I go back to a place where there was forest 50 years ago when I was there and it has all been knocked down the only thing that is there is an abandoned saw mill. It was sad to go back and see that. It is an example of the way the island has changed over the years. There are now three times as many people living on the island since I was there 50 years ago. The only places they can live and grow food were the only places that were wild. The wild places are being taken over by people building villages on them and rice fields.”

Scientific name: Aepyornithidae
Rank: Family
Common names: Aepyornis, Vorompatra, Vouron patra

Sizing an elephant bird

Living in Madagascar, elephant birds were the heaviest birds to ever live and laid the world's largest eggs.

Audio

Wolf hunting licenses to go on sale in Montana starting Monday

KALISPELL, Mont. — Wolf hunting licenses go on sale Monday in Montana.

The licenses are available from any regional office of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the agency's website, or any license vendor. Licenses cost $19 for residents and $350 for nonresidents.

The Daily Inter Lake reports that hunters must also have a 2011 conservation license. That license costs $8 for residents and $10 for nonresidents.

State wildlife commissioners last month approved a plan allowing hunters to shoot as many as 220 gray wolves during the hunt that is scheduled to begin in early September.

The hunt is expected to reduce the predator's Montana population by about 25 percent to 425 wolves.
A wolf hunt is also planned in Idaho, where officials have proposed no statewide harvest targets or quotas.

Montana wolf hunt licenses going on sale

HELENA- Licenses for this year's Montana wolf hunt are going up on sale on Monday, August 8th and they will be valid within 14 specifically defined wolf management units. It should be noted that hunters must obtain permission to hunt on private lands.
Hunters can purchase a wolf license online or from any FWP regional office or license provider. Hunters must have, or also purchase, a 2011 conservation license in order to take part in the upcoming wold hunt.
Wolf hunting licenses cost $19 for residents and $350 for nonresidents. The hunting season will close in a specific WMU when the quota is reached and Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks reports that if a WMU's quota isn't met, the wolf-hunting season will be extended in that area through December 31st.
Regulations and Seasons

• Early Season Backcountry Archery: Sept. 3-14.
• Early Season Backcountry Rifle: Sept. 15-Dec. 31.
• General Season Archery: Sept. 3-Oct. 16.
• General Season Rifle: Oct. 22-Dec. 31.

Hunters cannot use any motorized vehicle-including OHVs and snowmobiles-to hunt wolves and the use of dogs, bait, sent, lures, traps, lights, electronic tracking devices or any recorded or electrically amplified bird or animal calls to hunt or attract wolves is prohibited.
The total harvest quota is 220 wolves across 14 WMUs Two management units-WMUs 290 and 390 have subquotas. Montana is divided into 14 WMU and each has its own quota. FWP wildlife management areas are open to hunting during the fall wolf season and legally accessible State School Trust Land is also open to wolf hunting.
FWP advises that hunters by law must obtain permission to hunt private land and only tribal members may be allowed to hunt wolves on Indian Reservations. State Game Preserves, National Parks, and National Wildlife Refuges are closed to wolf hunting.
Hunters are required to call 1.877.FWP.WILD (1.877.397.9453) to report harvests within 12 hours and to maintain possession of the hide and skull, hunters must by law personally present the tagged wolf hide and skull to a designated FWP employee within 10 days of the harvest for inspection. Evidence of the animal's sex must remain naturally attached to the hide.
Hunters can call 1-800-385-7826 beginning September 3rd for the latest wolf-harvest status and closure information. Wolf hunting regulations are available via the FWP website at , and from most FWP license providers.