Half a dozen wolves could soon be removed from Michipicoten Island - destined for another Lake Superior island in Michigan.
The Duluth News Tribute is reporting the National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation has provided a $50,000 grant to help the US National Parks Service move six wolves from Michipicoten Island to Isle Royale - and to cover ongoing monitoring after that.
They'll join three Minnesota wolves brought to the island in western Lake Superior last fall, part of efforts to boost its native wolf population, which had dropped to a single male and a single female, unable to successfully mate due to inbreeding and genetic deformities.
Reviving that wolf population is also part of efforts to restore a level of predator-prey balance, as Isle Royale has about 2000 moose with no other predators.
Speaking with JJAM FM News, a representative of Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry confirmed the MNRF is working with the U-S parks service for the "translocation" of some wolves - hoping to do so this week, if weather co-operates - but declined to comment further.
The National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation is also offering the US Interior Department $55,000 to cover any National Park Service costs for ongoing island research conducted every winter since 1959 by Michigan Technological University researchers.