Wolf likely killed by fellow wolf

A collared gray wolf, a young female from the First Bridge pack on the Fond du Lac reservation, was found dead this month. Mike Schrage, wildlife program manager for Fond du Lac Resource Management, said the wolf was likely killed by a wolf from a neighboring pack.

“Necropsy showed trauma in her throat, armpits, hips and along her back,” Schrage said. “Her collar locations and the collar locations from one of the wolves in the neighboring pack put them both in the field where we found her on the same night.”

Wolves have been part of a tracking project on reservation land since 2016. The data collected helps experts determine the size of the state’s wolf population and also tracks causes of mortality in the packs.

The reservation of about 150 square miles is home to four wolf packs, named for points of geography. The First Bridge pack roams in an area West of the Cloquet Forestry Center.