https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Reducing wolves to protect endangered caribou doesn't always deliver the expected results, and the shape of the land may be the deciding factor. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-wolf-caribou-calves-terrain-predators.html Plants & Animals Sat, 07 Feb 2026 18:00:03 EST news689528089 A spotted gray wolf has left his California pack and trotted across Silver State lines, wildlife biologists say. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-gray-wolf-nevada-california.html Plants & Animals Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:10:01 EST news689411279 On Jan. 27, California lawmakers took initial steps toward addressing the public safety concerns posed by the state's growing populations of wolves, mountain lions and other predators—issues the state's top environmental official called a crisis. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-wolves-predators-crisis-california-environment.html Plants & Animals Thu, 29 Jan 2026 23:30:02 EST news688901237 At least one of Colorado's collared wolves roamed widely across southwestern Colorado in the last month, a new map of wolf locations released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife shows. One of the state's 19 collared wolves traveled quickly through a number of watersheds in that region, including near tribal land, according to a CPW news release. The map shows a wolf presence in a string of watersheds stretching from Alamosa west to Durango and then north, near Grand Junction. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-flung-colorado-wolves-month.html Plants & Animals Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:30:02 EST news688901229 A new study shows that interactions between wolves and cougars in Yellowstone National Park are driven by wolves stealing prey killed by cougars and that shifts in cougar diets to smaller prey help them avoid wolf encounters. The study, published at a time of growing overlap between cougar and wolf habitats in the western United States, found wolves occasionally killed cougars, but cougars did not kill wolves. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-cougar-diets-behaviors-competition-wolves.html Plants & Animals Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:00:03 EST news688640161 Colorado will not release more wolves this winter to supplement its reintroduction program after federal officials stopped the planned relocation of wolves from Canada. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-colorado-wont-wolves-winter-feds.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Jan 2026 20:50:03 EST news688294152 Management of gray wolves (Canis lupus) has a reputation for being one of the most contentious conservation issues in the United States. The topic often conjures stark images of supporters versus opponents: celebratory wolf reintroductions to Yellowstone National Park and Colorado contrasted with ranchers outraged over lost cattle; pro-wolf protests juxtaposed with wolf bounty hunters. These vivid scenes paint a picture of seemingly irreconcilable division. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-americans-generally-wolves-politics.html Plants & Animals Tue, 06 Jan 2026 15:11:27 EST news686934661 Imagine a healthy forest, home to a variety of species: Birds are flitting between tree branches, salamanders are sliding through leaf litter, and wolves are tracking the scent of deer through the understory. Each of these animals has a role in the forest, and most ecologists would argue that losing any one of these species would be bad for the ecosystem as a whole. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-wolves-absent-eastern-north-america.html Plants & Animals Thu, 18 Dec 2025 12:18:37 EST news685282682 Wildlife managers have significantly pared back their efforts to find three juvenile gray wolves who are the last remaining members of a pack that had established itself in the Sierra Valley ranch lands north of Truckee, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-california-curtails-effort-young-wolves.html Plants & Animals Wed, 17 Dec 2025 17:50:01 EST news685187083 Colorado Parks and Wildlife re-released a wolf into Grand County this week after it had traveled into New Mexico, according to a news release. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-colorado-wolf-grand-county-mexico.html Plants & Animals Mon, 15 Dec 2025 08:50:01 EST news685010004 There are many things people have love-hate relationships with in Britain and Ireland, from Brussels sprouts to cricket or sea swimming. Another item can now be added to this list: the reintroduction of lynx and wolves to the countryside. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-lynx-wolves-reintroduced-britain-ireland.html Plants & Animals Fri, 05 Dec 2025 06:58:46 EST news684140281 Wolves are returning across Europe—but not to the UK and Ireland, where public support is lukewarm at best. Ecologists point out their benefits, while farmers worry about their livestock. But another influence on public opinion is rarely discussed: Hollywood's obsession with the wolf as a monster. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-hollywood-horror-killer-wolf-trope.html Plants & Animals Wed, 03 Dec 2025 10:07:02 EST news683978761 Dogs were the first of any species that people domesticated, and they have been a constant part of human life for millennia. Domesticated species are the plants and animals that have evolved to live alongside humans, providing nearly all of our food and numerous other benefits. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-thousands-genomes-reveal-wild-wolf.html Evolution Thu, 27 Nov 2025 10:40:01 EST news683289100 Scientists have found wolf remains, thousands of years old, on a small, isolated island in the Baltic Sea—a place where the animals could only have been brought by humans. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-ancient-wolves-remote-baltic-sea.html Ecology Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:00:10 EST news683197261 California wildlife officials have confirmed there's a new wolf pack in the northern part of the state, as the population of the endangered canids—and the number of livestock they have preyed on—continues to rise. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-california-wolf-euthanized.html Plants & Animals Thu, 20 Nov 2025 07:10:02 EST news682842824 Many animals have been observed using tools. For example, chimps tear leaves off of branches and stick them into holes to pull out termites, and wild dingoes have been observed moving objects to stand on to get to another area. However, despite being known as fairly intelligent animals, wolves have never been observed using tools. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-video-wild-wolf-crab-food.html Plants & Animals Tue, 18 Nov 2025 10:20:02 EST news682683432 Across North America, mountain lions, bears and gray wolves have made a remarkable comeback over the last 50 years. Once nearly exterminated, these animals have been recovering their populations and returning to the landscapes they historically roamed, thanks to protections like the Endangered Species Act, hunting limits, and reintroduction programs. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-ecosystems-iconic-predators-complicated.html Ecology Wed, 12 Nov 2025 09:44:05 EST news682163042 Another of the wolves released in Colorado earlier this year as part of the state's reintroduction effort has died, wildlife officials said Friday. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-reintroduced-wolf-dies-southwest-colorado.html Plants & Animals Mon, 10 Nov 2025 07:20:01 EST news681980135 The recent roadblock thrown in front of Colorado's voter-mandated wolf reintroduction by the Trump administration may force state wildlife officials to find a new source of wolves, just months before the next planned releases this winter. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-feds-stance-canadian-sourced-wolves.html Plants & Animals Mon, 03 Nov 2025 08:30:02 EST news681380788 Three wolf pups from a pack whose adult members were euthanized by state conservation officials earlier in October had still not been captured despite weeks of searching by scientists and wildlife officers, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-wolf-pups-sought-california-sierra.html Plants & Animals Thu, 30 Oct 2025 08:40:04 EDT news681030651 A string of mild winters and scarce deer may have taken their toll on northern Minnesota's wolves. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-gray-wolf-fall-lowest-decade.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Oct 2025 09:30:03 EDT news680861177 California wildlife officials euthanized four gray wolves in Sierra Valley and plan to relocate three more to a wildlife sanctuary, after months of nonlethal efforts failed to prevent livestock attacks that cost ranchers tens of thousands of dollars and terrified residents. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-california-wolves-sierra-cattle.html Plants & Animals Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:30:01 EDT news680783988 On Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, gray wolves are doing something unexpected: hunting sea otters. This surprising dietary shift appears to have notable implications for both ecosystems and wolf health, but little is known about how the predators are capturing marine prey. Patrick Bailey, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rhode Island, is researching these understudied behaviors of gray wolves. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-coastal-gray-wolves-display-unexpected.html Plants & Animals Thu, 23 Oct 2025 13:10:03 EDT news680443732 After centuries of near-extinction, Europe's wolves have made a remarkable comeback. Over the past decade, wolf populations have surged, increasing by nearly 60%. In 2022, more than 21,500 wolves were recorded across the continent. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-wolves-denmark-happy.html Ecology Mon, 13 Oct 2025 11:26:04 EDT news679573561 A prominent Greek wildlife group on Friday said it had confirmed the first case of a wolf-dog hybrid in the north of the country. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-wolf-dog-hybrid-greece.html Ecology Fri, 03 Oct 2025 12:20:01 EDT news678712192 Fear of the fabled "big bad wolf" has dominated the public perception of wolves for millennia and strongly influences current debates concerning human-wildlife conflict. Humans both fear wolves and, perhaps more importantly, are concerned about wolves losing their fear of humans—because if they fear us, they avoid us and that offers protection. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-laws-wolves-fully-human-super.html Plants & Animals Thu, 02 Oct 2025 11:00:03 EDT news678528302 Hunters and farmers in Greece are demanding the right to cull wolves after one attacked a child on a beach this month, warning that the protected species is multiplying in the wild. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-wolf-greece-prompts-rights.html Ecology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 05:10:01 EDT news678426851 Wolves had long been extinct in parts of Central Europe. Thanks to strict regulations to protect species, in recent decades they have become more widespread again. This brings new challenges: in many areas, protecting farm livestock is essential to prevent animals such as sheep, goats and cattle from being killed by hungry wolves. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-livestock-safe-wolves.html Ecology Mon, 29 Sep 2025 17:02:04 EDT news678384122 Colorado's wolves returned to areas near the Utah border during September, though most wolf activity remained confined to the state's more mountainous terrain. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-colorado-wolves-west-state.html Plants & Animals Thu, 25 Sep 2025 09:30:03 EDT news678010020 In the three months since California stationed game wardens and scientists to round-the-clock shifts to help ranchers stave off wolf attacks on cattle, the number of bloody incidents in the state's Sierra Valley rangeland has more than doubled, data obtained by The Sacramento Bee shows. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-wolf-california-cattle-state-team.html Plants & Animals Mon, 22 Sep 2025 07:24:00 EDT news677744629