camp ripley and arden hills minnesota army national guard training ...

Wolf Mortalities
Wolf #28 was first captured in the north pack during a helicopter capture event in
January, 2006. He weighed 103 pounds, was four to five years old, and was fitted with a standard
VHF collar (Advanced Telemetry Systems). We noted that his feet were noticeably larger than
usual for Camp Ripley wolves, which made his tracks easy to identify. He was the alpha male in
the north pack, and over the next few years we observed an increase in track size of wolves in that
pack. Unfortunately, wolf #28 reinforced the fact that wolves that move off Camp Ripley are
moving into a more hostile environment; he was found dead in January 22, 2009 on the east side
of the Mississippi River. Necropsy revealed that he had been shot. The location where he was
found was unusual because he had only been located off Camp once in the past (Figure 42).
However, on two other occasions alpha male wolves from the north pack moved east of the
Mississippi River when their status in the pack changed.
A north pack wolf (#34) that had been collared in 2008 with a GPS/Satellite collar
(Northstar Science and Technology, Globalstar GPS) was recovered this year. The wolf had
moved off Camp and again we were reminded that the area surrounding Camp is a harsh
environment as it was found south of Staples, Minnesota where it had been shot.
A large (85 lb) female wolf (#30) was captured in 2006 and identified as the alpha female
in the south pack. In the 2008 Conservation Program Report we reported that wolf #30 was
found dead in February, 2008 in the southwest corner of Marne Marsh near Round Lake. Since
that time necropsy results revealed that she had been killed by other wolves. This is only the third
collared wolf that has died on Camp and all three have been of natural causes. In contrast, since
1996, 20 collared wolves have died outside of Camp Ripley boundaries and been recovered; of
these, ten were shot illegally, one was suspected shot, four were hit by vehicles, three were killed
during animal damage control trapping (one in Canada and none in the local area), one was
poisoned, and one cause of death was undetermined. (Table 11).
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Research
A telemetry-based study of black bears was initiated at Camp Ripley in 1991. The
current study is part of a statewide research project conducted by the MNDNR designed to
monitor the body condition, movements, and reproductive success of bears in the northern,
central and southern parts of Minnesota‟s bear range. Camp Ripley lies along the southern edge
of the bear range in Minnesota. The principal objectives of this study include: 1) continued
2009 Conservation Program Report
Page 64