Southeast wolf hunters will be asked to leave a little of the animal behind

Hunters and trappers sealing a wolf in Southeast Alaska this season will be asked to leave more of the animal behind: a strip of hide, a dime-sized piece of muscle, and, if the wolf came from Prince of Wales Island, the two bones of the foreleg.

Fish and Game asked for the samples Thursday. Skin, an inch and a half by a quarter inch with the hair attached, and muscle are wanted from wolves taken in Units 1 through 3 and Unit 5. The foreleg bones are wanted only from Unit 2, which is Prince of Wales. Sealers do the cutting, with sterile blades, not the hunter.

The skin and muscle go to genetic and diet work. The bones tell the department whether a wolf was a pup or an adult, which sharpens its population estimate for the island.

Fish and Game counted 238 wolves in Unit 2 in fall 2023, against a Board of Game objective of 150 to 200.

The department ran the same collection after the fall 2020 count and issued a nearly identical request last August.

The samples are voluntary. The paperwork is not. Unit 2 wolves must be sequentially numbered, reported to Fish and Game within seven days of the kill and sealed within 15. Everywhere else a hunter has 30 days from the kill and a trapper 30 days from the close of the season.

Hunting opens Sept. 1.