Researchers have studied the predator–prey dynamics on Isle Royale since 1958, making the project the longest-running of its kind. The Lake Superior archipelago was declared a U.S. National Park in 1940, and this designation saved the remaining wilderness from further logging and mining. The dwindling animal populations rebounded as human industry receded, and the periodic fluctuation of wolf and moose numbers began anew, continuing to this day.

The Isle Royale Wolf/Moose Study celebrates its 50th anniversary in late July. Groups such as the National Park Service and the Earthwatch Institute, among others, help fund the research led by the Michigan Tech faculty.

View the Isle Royale Wolf/Moose Study Slide Show

2 Comments

1. 1. Michael M 09:07 PM 7/22/08

   It would be well to mention Durward Allen, who was the founding director of the Isle Royale study, and David Mech. Both wrote books which assisted the rehabilitation of the wolf's reputation among fear- and myth-bound European settlers of this continent from flagrantly false folk stories.
   Allen's book, for general audiences, is titled, "The Wolves of Minong."
   Mech has gone on to study wolves in the High Arctic, and has authored and co-authored 2 or more books, along with helping to found the International Wolf center in Ely, MN.
   After Adolph Murie's work with the wolves of Denali in the 1940s, their work was the first biologically and behaviorally accurate description of this species, long vilified and exterminated (into the present) in most of its range. Their work is the beginning of the important recognition of predators in ecosystems and living communities.
   Naturalists have yet to understand well the extent of wolf behavior, communication, development, learning, and cognition; such studies are highly relevant to understanding mammalian cognition and behavior, including our own.

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2. 2. Honkra 12:58 PM 4/25/10

   I am interested in obtaining a copy of the cover photo on
   " The Wolves of Minong" if anyone can help please let me
   know.
   
   Thanks, Miigwetch
   
   Tom
   tfisher4000@sbcglobal.com

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