With no protections in place to protect the plummeting population of the now less than 50 Wolves that call Denali National Park in Alaska home, Researchers are calling out in concern that an "extirpation" event is rapidly unfolding in this iconic habitat...........Up until 2010, Alaska had a buffer around the park than banned hunting and trapping of the Wolves............. With Alaska having in place a assnine policy of shooting wolves from planes to supposedly help Caribou recover(not happening as habitat disruption no wolves are plummeting Caribou numbers), you now have the perfect storm of "persecution and genocide" at play on the Wolf population in Denali

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/fewer-than-wolves-reported-inside-denali-national-park/article_283a00be-ed7e-11e4-9157-83a883768c38.html

Fairbanks (AK) Daily News-Miner

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Fewer than 50 wolves reported inside Denali National Park

By Sam Friedman, sfriedman@newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Denali National Park and Preserve's wolf numbers hit a new low this spring with an estimated population of 48 wolves inside the park, according to a Park Service study.

The National Park Service estimates the park wolf population twice each year using radio-collared wolves and an analysis of a handful of un-collared wolves believed to live in and around the park. The study dates back to 1986. This spring's population estimate is the lowest since an estimate of 46 wolves in fall 1986. It's the lowest on record for any spring survey.

Opponents of wolf hunting and trapping have long used the study to advocate for re-establishing a buffer zone to ban wolf hunting and trapping on state land adjacent to the national park. In 2010, Alaska's Board of Game removed a wolf hunting and trapping-free buffer zone in state land adjacent to the park.

 Gunner claiming a Wolf that he shot in Alaska

In a status report on the wolf survey last week, the park's Chief Wildlife Biologist Steve Arthur said the decline was likely linked to two non-human factors. Low snowfall made it easier for caribou and moose to flee wolves, he said. The numbers also dropped because of better tracking technology from GPS collars, he said. The tracking technology expanded biologists' understanding of the wolves' home range, which is used to calculate the wolf population estimate. The park population estimate was the lowest spring survey on record but not the lowest count of wolves. Biologists counted 52 wolves during the survey.

Two of the nine wolves who died in 2014 and early 2015 were killed legally by trappers or hunters, according to the survey. That's about the same proportion as other recent years. A total of about nine wolves died. Besides the two killed by humans, two wolves were killed by other wolves, one died from old age, one drowned, one starved and two died from unidentified non-human causes, according to the survey. At least 14 pups born in 2014 survived into the fall.

The Alaska Board of Game has rejected several petitions to re-establish the wolf hunting and trapping buffer zone around Denali National Park, most recently at its meeting last month. The state game boards takes a wildly different approach to wolf hunting regulations than the National Park Service. In addition to allowing hunting and trapping, the state pays Fish and Game employs to shoot some wolves from helicopters as part of its intensive management program. The program's designed to increase moose populations by keeping predator numbers low.

The state doesn't track wolf populations as closely as the park service but estimates the statewide population is between 7,000 and 11,000. Wolves have never been threatened or endangered in Alaska.