ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Listed

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1974; reclassified in 1978; delisted in 2012; relisted in 2015

CRITICAL HABITAT: Isle Royale National Park in Michigan and portions of northeastern Minnesota designated in 1978

RECOVERY PLAN: 1992; 1998 addendum

RANGE: Established breeding populations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, with wolf dispersal into North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana

THREATS: Human persecution, disease, hybridization with coyotes

POPULATION TREND: By the 1960s, wolves were eliminated from Wisconsin and Michigan and nearly all wolves in the lower 48 were found in northeastern Minnesota. Thanks to federal protection, they began to grow in numbers in Minnesota and dispersed to Wisconsin and Michigan. In 2010, scientists estimated that Minnesota was home to approximately 3,000 wolves, with 700 each in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Gray wolf photo courtesy Flickr/dallidee