Agassiz Gray Wolf Research
The Agassiz Wolf Project (wolf-livestock interaction study), located at Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge, northwestern Minnesota, is under the auspices of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Utah State University. This project is under the supervision of Gary Huschle, Agassiz NWR biologist, USFWS, and Eric Gese, PhD., Utah State University (USU) and the National Wildlife Research Center, USDA. Project graduate student, Andreas Chavez, Master's of Science candidate, USU, is working on this project for his Master's thesis. This project began in the summer of 1997 and will end in the fall of 1999. The Agassiz NWR is a 100 sq. mile refuge located in northwestern Minnesota. It is characterized by flat terrain consisting of agricultural lands and intermittent wooded and marsh areas. The gray wolf (Canis lupus) recolonized the refuge in the early 1980s. Since then the number of packs has varied between 1-3 packs. The Agassiz Wolf Project is a unique opportunity for wildlife researchers to study wolves that are living in an area of relatively high rural establishment. Previous studies on wolves in the United States have been performed in areas of low human densities and accessibility, such as the wilderness areas of the Superior National Forest, northeastern Minnesota. The researchers on this project are attempting to follow wolf movement patterns on a 24-hour basis in order to understand how much time out of a wolf's day is spent in agricultural lands and assess the degree of risk that wolves pose to livestock. Each wolf that is tracked is wearing a radio-collar that emits a radio signal at a unique frequency. The researchers can then hear the radio signal through a radio receiver and follow the wolves wherever they go. Eyes on Wildlife funding helped with Gray Wolf research being conducted at Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. A satellite collar was purchased and placed on a wolf in September of 1997. Transmissions were received an average of three times per week. Students tracked the wolf named "Stubby" until transmission batteries died September of 1998. One objective was to determine distance, directions and fates of dispersing wolves from the Refuge. |