It was one of two seen dragging backpacks and bags of food away from campsites and developed areas, “exhibiting signs of habituation and a reliance on human food sources.”
ISLE ROYALE —The National Park Service killed a wolf on Isle Royale that became reliant on visitors’ food and showed signs of habituation.
The wolf was one of two “problem wolves” with an “escalating number of concerning incidents reported by park visitors,” including repeated sightings at different Isle Royale National Park campsites where they dragged backpacks and food storage bags away, the Park Service said in a news release Friday.
Officials had tried to deter the wolves’ behavior, but ultimately made the “difficult decision” to kill one of the wolves earlier this month.
“Despite proactive management efforts, including aversive conditioning, changes in waste management practices and implementation of food storage regulations, these wolves continued to display escalating boldness around visitors, campsites and staff housing areas,” the Park Service said. The decision was made after consultation with state, federal and tribal agencies, the Park Service said.
Isle Royale Superintendent Denice Swanke said keeping park staff and visitors safe, maintaining a wild wolf population, and protecting wildlife “in their natural state” remain priorities. “While lethal removal is deeply unfortunate, it became necessary due to a growing public safety risk,” Swanke said in the release. “All who appreciate and enjoy Isle Royale National Park need to understand the importance of adherence and vigilance to food storage regulations and our collective role in minimizing negative human-wildlife interactions.”
Last year, the Park Service issued new regulations on food storage for campers after wolves discovered human food in the Rock Harbor Lodge garbage and began associating people with food, becoming less leery of them. Hazing methods, such as shooting paintballs and surrounding garbage cans with an electric fence, were used. This year, the Park Service required campers to store food in bear-resistant containers and place them in newly installed food storage lockers at campsites or hang them from a tree 12 feet off the ground and 6 feet from the tree trunk if a locker is not available. If hanging the container is not possible, the food should be secured to a boulder, log or tree 200 feet from camp.
It’s a similar rule imposed in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to ward against bears, but there are no bears on Isle Royale.
The wolf population on the remote 209-square-mile island in Lake Superior has grown since the Park Service translocated 19 wolves from Minnesota, Michigan and Ontario to Isle Royale in 2018 and 2019. The intervention came after the last two wolves on the island were too inbred to reproduce.
As of January 2024, an estimated 30 wolves and 840 moose inhabited the Isle Royale.
The population of the island’s wolves and moose has been closely studied since 1958, but population estimates of both moose and wolves were not made in the 2025 study a fter a last-minute medical issue grounded the ski-plane pilot, and the Michigan Tech University scientists were unable to find a replacement pilot, according to the Associated Press.
At 45 miles long, Isle Royale is the largest island on Lake Superior, sitting about 14 miles off Minnesota’s North ShorefromGrandPortage.Theislandis a national park and mostly designated wilderness, with few human visitors in summer and none in winter. There are no other major predators on the island, no hunting is allowed and moose are the only large prey species.
