Four gray wolves have been released into Isle Royale National Park in Michigan with a very important mission: to help control the park’s exploding moose population.
According to the National Park Service, a partnership was formed with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) to capture the four wolves on public land near Wawa, Ontario, and to release them at the national park in Michigan earlier this month.
Three of the wolves are males, and all from the same pack. They were released into the park last week. A 65-pound female wolf was also released into the park earlier in the week.
Researchers hope that the wolves will reproduce on the island and help bring the moose population back in check, after it exploded due to an absence of the predators.
“To see these wolves disappear into the forests of Isle Royale and to have an opportunity to start a new generation of wolves on the island fulfilled a major objective in the first year of reestablishing the population,” Isle Royal Park Superintendent Phyllis Green said in a statement.
According to the NPS, moose are able to outcompete other herbivores for food, and their numbers need to be kept in check at the national park.
