Here are two very good resources from ID F&G on wolves and elk and deer populations, predattion, etc. The first is more comprehensive with more charts and graphs. The second is a year more recent.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/july182013_presentations/idaho.pdf
https://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/docs/wolves/reportAnnual14.pdf
Wow. As a scientist myself, these documents are disturbing. I didn't make it past the second page of the 2014 summary before something jumped out. Of 360 wolf deaths, the overwhelming majority were human related, and of those they could determine a cause of, only 0.6% were due to "natural causes".
ANY biologist, or scientist should know that number is ABSURD. The data is fundamentally flawed, in either collecting and or reporting.
"We documented 360 wolf mortalities in 2014, a 24% decrease from 2013 (Table 1, Figure 7). Nearly all documented mortalities of known cause (n = 344) were human-caused (n = 342; 99%)"
"Remaining wolf mortalities were attributed to unknown causes (n = 16). These mortality figures demonstrate patterns in known mortality,
but do not represent all mortality."
"31 pups were fitted with light-weight (74 gram) expandable vhf collars. We confirmed 9 collars were shed or chewed off shortly after deployment, leaving 22 pups with viable collars. At the end of 2014, 7 collared pups were confirmed alive, 10 pups were confirmed dead, and 5 pups were of undetermined status (the collar was not detected or was transmitting a mortality signal but had not yet been recovered).
Two of the 10 mortalities were attributable to harvest.
Cause of death for the remaining 8 mortalities could not be determined because of decomposition."
Show me any wild animal that has 0.6% natural mortality.
Looks like common sense left the intellectual buffet to make room for the main course of BIASED REPORTING.
To the casual reader, it appears that 99% of wolves are killed by man. We could just as easily dilute that number down by adding the unknowns to the denominator, or comment on how
80% of pups died from causes not related or attributed to humans.
Wow. Why in the world people love wolves so much is beyond me. As I have always said, I support a healthy managed population of wolves anywhere in the US that they reside, but allowing other species to suffer while they are unnecessarily protected is just plain old dumb. The MN goal is 1500, and we have 4500-6000+ depending on who's numbers you want to use at any given time. Why these animals are allowed to persist at populations 4-6x goal in multiple states is also just dumb. We have them on our property in central MN, lots of them. I like seeing the tracks, hearing them howl, but think that the "natural balance" (which consists of man as the apex predator in any environment he inhabits) needs to be maintained. Wolves and grizzlies need to be hunted to control population, to maintain fear of man, and to reduce human/livestock predator conflict.