Isle Royale National Park to celebrate 50 years of Wolf-Moose Research July 25-27

HOUGHTON -- This weekend (July 25–27), Isle Royale National Park will host a gala celebration of 50 years of continuous wolf-moose research. Headed by wildlife ecologists from Michigan Tech University, this research is the longest running predator-prey study in the world.

During the weekend celebration, some of the scientists who have led the study -- Rolf Peterson, John Vucetich, L. David Mech and Doug Smith -- will talk about their research and answer questions.

Rolf Peterson, Michigan Tech University professor and renowned researcher, gives a slide presentation and talk on his Isle Royale Wolf-Moose study during MTU's 2008 Earth Week celebration in March. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)

Peterson and Vucetich, wildlife ecologists at Michigan Tech, now head the research. Mech, a senior scientist with the Biological Resources Division of the US Geological Survey, worked on the project with Purdue University wildlife ecologist Durward Allen at its inception in 1958. Smith, who recently headed the re-introduction of gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park, participated in the Isle Royale research from 1979 to 1992.

A film four years in the making, Fortunate Wilderness: the wolf and moose study of Isle Royale, will have its world premier at the Rock Harbor Auditorium on Isle Royale on July 25. George Desort, an independent filmmaker from the Upper Peninsula, produced the documentary, which is slated for showings in Houghton and Duluth, Minn., during coming months. For a preview of the film, see www.isinglasspictures.com/ ...Read this complete article by Jennifer Donovan on the MTU Web site.