The Impact Of Wolves On Isle Royale's Moose Numbers

Researchers have had their first good look in years at the wolf population on Isle Royale. The remote Lake Superior island provides a rare opportunity to see how wolves and moose cohabitate in an area outside of human influence.

The National Park Service brought in more wolves in 2018 to help balance the ecosystem, because the moose population was larger than the food supply. Many moose died of starvation.

ABC News reports that researchers have run into problems in recent years when it comes to studying the wolf and moose populations. They've been studying the population for nearly 70 years, but the first hiccup came when the pandemic caused them to cancel research in 2021. A warm winter in 2024 meant they couldn't land their planes on the ice near Isle Royale, and in 2025, one of the pilots suffered a last-minute medical emergency.

So in 2026, they finally gathered data. They estimate 37 wolves are on the island, which is up from 30 wolves in 2024.

That means the wolf population is the highest since the late 1970s. A decade ago, there were just 2 wolves on the island.

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The moose population is down 75% since its peak in 2000. Researchers figure that wolves killed a quarter of the moose population last year alone. They estimate the population at 524 moose. This was the first winter in research history that they did not observe a moose calf.

They'll be doing more research this summer, looking to see how the growing wolf pack can maintain balance with the ecosystem of the rest of the island.

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Wildlife officials are looking at the increase in wolf numbers as a positive sign, as inbreeding led to a low survival rate for wolf pups leading up to the 2018 intervention. At that time, they had considered routine transfers of wolves from the mainland in Minnesota, Michigan, and Ontario to support the population. Now it appears that may not be needed, at least in the short term.

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