Collard wolf from Michigan roamed 4000+ miles before it was killed

This map from the Michigan DNR shows the trek of a collared wolf from the Upper Peninsula, through other northern states and into Canada, where it was killed in late 2022.

A wolf that was outfitted with a tracking collar in Michigan's Upper Peninsula traveled over 4,000 miles before it was killed. The wolf, which was collared as part of a study on the species, was found to have roamed through parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario before it met its demise. This is one of the longest distances ever recorded for a wolf to travel in a single year. The study, which is ongoing, aims to gather more information about the behavior and movements of wolves in the region.

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“The use of GPS collars will certainly add more insight to the movement of these amazing animals and likely show that others may make similar movements over time, but I suspect this will stand as a record for some time for Michigan,” said Brian Roell, a wildlife biologist with Michigan’s DNR.

Use Of Collars

Michigan has a stable wolf population of around 600 to 700 animals in the Upper Peninsula, which can be found in every county. The state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has noted that a few wolves have ventured across the Straits of Mackinac into the Lower Peninsula, but there is no established population there yet.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been running a wolf-collaring program since 1992. Currently, about 30 of the wolves in the Upper Peninsula are equipped with collars. Researchers can usually gather data from the collars for around three years before they stop functioning. Every spring, the DNR captures and collars new wolves as part of the study. They often focus on specific packs that they want to learn more about, such as those with overlapping territories or packs that may be approaching livestock farms. By tracking these packs, the DNR can use techniques to discourage them from certain areas.

The wolf-collaring program has provided valuable data on Michigan's 130 to 140 wolf packs, beyond just population measurements, according to Roell. “It also give us insight into biological information on Michigan wolves, their movement, their territory sizes.”

A Well-Traveled Wolf

This individual wolf's journey of 4,200 miles was exceptional due to the vast distance traveled, according to researchers. The 92-pound male wolf was collared in the summer of 2021 near Lake Gogebic in the Ottawa National Forest in the northwest region of the Upper Peninsula.

“It did not stay in Michigan very long after that,” Roell said the GPS data showed. “So it really never settled down.”

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has recorded instances of wolves from the state making long journeys to places such as Missouri and Canada, as well as traveling to nearby states like Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“The new technology that we have been using ... has really given us some insight into these long-distance movements,” Roell said. “Often it seems like some of these animals are destined to stay loners.”

As for this particular wolf, “we know this animal had been going for awhile,” before it was legally harvested, he said.

Great Lakes Wolves: One Big Population?

The Voyageurs Wolf Project, which studies wolves and their prey in and around Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, was also interested in this Michigan wolf's long journey. The wolf passed through part of the park and at least two wolf pack territories within it on its way to Canada. The Voyageurs group shared information about the wolf and maps from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on social media, where the post received thousands of likes and shares. The group believes that the wolf's journey helps to deepen people's understanding of the concept of a "lone wolf" and illustrates the interconnectedness of wolves in the Great Lakes region, as wolves do not distinguish between state or national boundaries when they travel.

“The travels of this Michigan wolf, along with many others that our project and other researchers have documented, show how wolves across the Midwest states and Canadian provinces are connected,” their social media post reads.

“Although we tend to think of wolf populations based on geopolitical boundaries (e.g. the wolf population in a given state or province), which are useful for management and conservation decisions, there isn’t much to indicate that these boundaries actually denote the boundaries between wolf populations.

“Instead, probably the best way to think of wolf populations in the western Great Lakes area is to think of them as one large connected population with dispersing wolves moving between provinces and states all the time.”

Wolf 003F leaving her crate on he first day on Michigan's Isle Royale in October 2018.

This collared male wolf is not the only Michigan wolf with a documented history of long-distance travel. In early 2019, a 70-pound female wolf (known as wolf 003F) that had been relocated to Michigan's Isle Royale as part of a National Park Service project left the island by walking 15 miles across an ice bridge to the Canadian mainland. From there, she traveled thousands of miles through the US and Canada. Researchers who tracked her movements using GPS data compared her to a super-athlete in human terms.