The Wolves of Isle Royale: A Broken Balance,

The Wolves of Isle Royale: A Broken Balance,

Rolf Peterson

My copy has a different cover than the one shown with a photo of wolves walking the icy edge of the island.  It is the copy you would want to buy since it includes a short epilogue that is important.

Rolf wrote this in 1994 after a plunge from 50 to 14 wolves in three years and the fear was high that the wolves would disappear from the Island. 

The argument that he makes for stepping in to put wolves back should they disappear is not as compelling now that the wolves have stabilized their populations, but the argument should not be lost because it could still be important in the future.

Almost destroyed by Parvo Virus – a dog disease that was brought in by a dog (from Chicago) on a boat and the drop was fast and lethal.  It left a small population (13) with only three females, dominated by one that was too old to bear pups.  Fortunately the other two females produced four pups each (and four of the reproductive partners died within a year) and this meant that the wolf would remain on the Island for the foreseeable future.

But the books value is more than this dramatic event.  Fifty years of continuous wolf research has left a collection of stories of angry moose, fox, wolves, and flights that can be dramatic, surprising and humorous. 

Rolf is a passionate observer and a wolf advocate.  His research has opened new views of this amazing animal. Until the crisis he was a passive observer of bones and scats, carcasses and airplanes, but after 1988 he had to utilize traps.  This quote shows his personal feelings:

“The fine weather was a good omen, yet our mission and our boatload of wolf traps engendered a sense of foreboding.  For the first time, the wolves of Isle Royale were to become targets, and I, their longtime observer and admirer, would become the hunter.  In my heart, I didn’t much care for the idea of capturing them – even for the purposes of temporary study.  But I felt compelled to expose them to possible risks, in order to ascertain the causes of their decline and possible extinction.”  No wolf was injured during the successful trapping.

There is good insight into the history of the island as well as the history of wolf research.  There are lessons about wolves and forests and it is an ecological web told well in a small book with wonderful color photography that aids in capturing the full story.

One more perspective to be added.  Twice this summer I have had the great pleasure of being with Bob Krumenaker, the superintendent of Apostle Islands Lakeshore.  He had been on Isle Royale as the staff researcher who was their to work with Rolf in the first trapping and collaring ever on the island and we had good discussions about the park, the wolves, and ecology.

I take no side in this, but I know Bob felt that Rolf went beyond his scientist position in writing the conclusions to this book.  I agree, but I do not think that is bad.  It is a good book, a complex situation, and worth losts of discussion and debate - as well as some really planning to match the situations that could arise suddenly and soon.