How did wolves return to the Upper Great Lakes region?
Wolves were not “reintroduced” or transplanted in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan from other states or countries, as some believe, although in 1974 an unsuccessful attempt to reintroduce 4 wolves in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from Minnesota occurred. All four were dead within a year. Unlike the reintroduction effort in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho, wolves of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan returned on their own. With the protection from the Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973, wolves were allowed to return without legal persecution from humans. Wolves emigrated from Ontario, into Minnesota. From Minnesota, wolves have moved into Wisconsin and Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula. Wolves also emigrated from Ontario via the islands adjacent to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and moved into the eastern Upper Peninsula.
