Isle Royale's Wolves and Moose: Population Updates and Ecosystem Impact.

Gray wolves are thriving at Isle Royale National Park, five years after authorities began a last-ditch attempt to prevent the species from dying out on the Lake Superior island chain. The park’s moose population continues a sharp but needed decline. Overpopulation of the lumbering mammals was causing their own starvation as they outstripped available balsam fir trees. The trends appear to justify federal officials’ 2018 decision to airlift mainland wolves to Isle Royale, the researchers said, arguing that the predators’ return is helping rebalance an ecosystem knocked off-kilter as their number dropped to just two.