Special Interest
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Something unique about Isle Royale is that it is home to the world's longest continuous study of a predator-prey system. Since 1958, every winter scientists have observed the separate packs of wolves on the island, watching how they compete for territory and food. They have observed how the wolves actually help the moose population by killing the old and sick to keep all the moose healthy.
There are only about 15 wolves on Isle Royale which makes it easy for observers to carefully watch each one's behavior. There are around 800 moose and scientists have tracked how moose and wolf populations increase and decrease opposite each other.
Some things they have observed include how new wolves migrating from Canada impact the packs already on the island and how weather can determine how easy it is from wolves to hunt and survive. In 1982, observers saw the wolf population drop from 50 to 14 due to a disease brought by humans.
Usually in a study similar to this one, scientists would begin to make conclusions after a few years about their observations. On Isle Royale, new information, wolves, and diseases have kept scientists interested for over 50 years.
There are only about 15 wolves on Isle Royale which makes it easy for observers to carefully watch each one's behavior. There are around 800 moose and scientists have tracked how moose and wolf populations increase and decrease opposite each other.
Some things they have observed include how new wolves migrating from Canada impact the packs already on the island and how weather can determine how easy it is from wolves to hunt and survive. In 1982, observers saw the wolf population drop from 50 to 14 due to a disease brought by humans.
Usually in a study similar to this one, scientists would begin to make conclusions after a few years about their observations. On Isle Royale, new information, wolves, and diseases have kept scientists interested for over 50 years.