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RT @WyoFile: A bill that would deregulate killing of mountain lions and mandate trapping throughout the state stems from concerns over stru…

News report:

Bills seek to ramp up wolf killing in Montana

The challenge with managing for the minimum number of wolves is that it requires accurate & precise population estimates, which brings attention back to FWP's controversial iPOM model. Curiously, H.B. 176 mandates that FWP continue using the iPOM model.

RT @WyoFile: BREAKING: Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Lower 48 will stay protected under the Endangered Species…

New paper by John Benson et al. in @ESAEcology explores the drivers of group cohesion in social canids. Cohesion varies widely, shaped by life history, prey, group size, and humans. In wolves, it declines as pack size grows or human disturbance increases.

Much appreciate @SoSeaEmerald for helping the public understand our recent @ESAMonographs paper, debunking the myth that fear of wolves drives aspen recovery in @YellowstoneNPS. The lead image features another wily canid—the coyote.

One pack in our study grew to over 20 wolves, including 11 pups—an impressive size for such an extreme environment. In this photo, it numbered at least 27, underscoring the remarkable productivity of this polar desert ecosystem.

@anttihaataja We don’t know for sure because little caribou monitoring occurred in that area. Potential reasons for the decline include rain-on-snow icing events and wolf predation. Hunter harvest was probably not a factor because hunters didn’t range that far north.

RT @blairmiller: Following adoption of new regulations, Montana settles with conservation groups that sued to shorten wolf trapping season…

Grizzly bears vanished from Utah a century ago. They could return soon. Grizzly bears in Wyoming are expanding their normal ranges, bringing outlier bears closer to Utah’s border.

@anttihaataja Interesting

Fifth wolf killed in unit north of Yellowstone National Park despite quota. All five wolves taken from single Yellowstone pack, three others missing.

Why is the Yellowstone "landscape of fear" story so entrenched? In Effective Conservation Science: Data Not Dogma, Emma Marris suggests it's partly because humans are suckers for a good story.