wolf "howl box" coming to NW

[Emily]

next time you hear wolves howling the sounds may be coming from speakers:
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008 ... news03.txt

High tech meets the call of the wild: Audio device uses howls to keep track of wolves
By JOHN CRAMER of the Missoulian

University of Montana student Teresa Loya shows the “howlbox,� a device she built to broadcast a wolf howl and record wolves' responses in the wild. It's one of a number of techniques biologists are looking into to track wolf populations as federal protection of the animals is scheduled to end.
Photo by TOM BAUER/MissoulianTo listen to Teresa Loya talk about the “howlbox� and hear wolves it has recordedclick here.
In the Northern Rockies, gray wolves aren't the only species about to venture into uncharted territory next month when their federal protection is slated to end.

The humans who study them also will be navigating new terrain as federal money dries up and wolf hunting seasons begin, leaving state wildlife managers to come up with new funding and less expensive ways to monitor the region's more than 1,500 wolves.

It's a big challenge for the caretakers of one of America's keystone predators, whose resurrection from near extinction has delighted some and infuriated others.
“The whole world is watching and we know it,� said Carolyn Sime, wolf management coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

For years, biologists have relied on aerial and ground tracking and radio collars to monitor wolf packs in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, but those methods are expensive and labor intensive.

As a result, researchers are considering using a combination of high- and low-tech methods - including audio recordings, DNA scat surveys, public reports and global positioning system collars - to create a statistical model that produces an accurate wolf count for a lot less money and manpower.

The most intriguing method being considered is a so-called “howlbox,� a homemade electronic device that could turn an ancient call of the wild into a way to manage wolves in the modern West.

Invented by Montana researchers, the howlbox taps into solar power, computer software and wolves' natural and noisy inclination to announce their presence by howling.

Since 1950s, biologists have analyzed the sounds of birds, whales, bats, frogs and other species, but the broadcasting and recording devices require someone in the field, are battery powered or have other limitations.

The howlbox, which combines over-the-counter components and complicated software, is thought to be the first fully automated, remote-sensing tool used to detect, count and monitor wolves in the wild, said Dave Ausband, a research associate at the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, which is part of the U.S. Geological Survey.

“It's basically like having ears in the woods all the time,� said Teresa Loya, a University of Montana student who built the prototype howlbox and wrote its frequency-analysis software.

The researchers tested the prototype for three days in January on a two-member wolf pack in the Bitterroot Mountains.

There were a few glitches that come with using electronics in the wilderness. At first, researchers were puzzled when the device didn't work, but then they realized it had simply come unplugged. And later, the unit unexpectedly released a cacophony of howls as it was being carried out of the woods.

“The sound just exploded off my back and I was looking around like� we were surrounded by wolves, Ausband said, chuckling. “It was trial and error.�

But when its audio contents were examined, the howlbox had successfully distinguished between the vocalizations of the pack's male and female wolves.

“We thought, ‘Holy cow, it really works,' � Ausband said.

Loya is now constructing a smaller, lighter, more sophisticated howlbox that will be used, along with the prototype, on a dozen wolf packs in central Idaho this summer.

The research is overseen by Mike Mitchell, a UM associate professor and leader of the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Unit.

To gauge the howlboxes' accuracy, this summer's results will be compared with known wolf populations that have been previously determined by aerial and ground monitoring and radio collars.

The howlbox - which was inspired by Polish researchers' audio work with a captive wolf pack - works by broadcasting howls that prompt wolves to respond from miles around. The device records the responses and enters a sleep mode until the next broadcast.

The responses are run through a spectrogram analysis that determines the number of wolves that responded, creating an acoustic signature that can help biologists identify individual wolves, monitor wolf numbers, track pack locations and detect the presence of new packs.

If the howlbox proves accurate and durable, dozens of them could be strapped to trees across the Northern Rockies, where they would create voiceprints of every wolf.

“It's less invasive and a lot cheaper and it takes a lot of the labor out� of traditional monitoring, trapping and radio collaring, Ausband said.

The prototype howlbox cost about $5,000 and weighs 10 pounds. The updated version is expected to be half the size and cost about $12,000. Both have been funded by private grants.

State wildlife managers in Montana also are considering using some GPS collars to supplement the howlboxes, fecal surveys and public reports. GPS collars each cost about $3,500, compared to $350 radio collars, but the GPS devices can monitor a pack's movements far more closely.

While the shift from federal to state management will bring a number of changes, Montana and Idaho have been handling much of the daily workload since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved their wolf plans in 2004. Wyoming's plan was approved in December.

“There are some big unknowns, so that's why we've chosen an adaptive management structure� that relies on a host of technical and nontechnical methods, said Liz Bradley, FWP wolf biologist in west-central and southwest Montana.

Montana, Idaho and Wyoming are considering a range of options for funding wolf management within their borders.

More than $27 million in federal funds and private donations have been spent on wolf recovery in the northern Rockies since 1974, including $3 million last year. Nearly all of the funding goes toward counting wolves and managing livestock conflicts, while little goes for research.

States will assume nearly all of the management costs, although the Fish and Wildlife Service will continue funding wolf programs through September for about $3.3 million.

Montana's wolf management costs are expected to increase from $620,000 last year to $1 million annually and be funded by public and private dollars, although no dedicated source of money has been identified.

Montana has fewer wolves than Idaho and Wyoming, but its packs often require more management because they live closer to humans and livestock than in the two neighboring states.

Another major change under the states' oversight will be wolf hunting seasons, which are to start this fall.

Hunting's potential impact is hotly debated - agency biologists say it should be negligible given wolves' rapid reproductive rate, while environmental groups say hunting could devastate wolf numbers and genetic viability. At the least, hunting will mean the periodic loss of radio- and GPS-collared wolves, which make tracking them in other ways more imperative.

Gray wolves were federally protected in 1974 after nearly being exterminated them in the Lower 48 states by the 1930s.

In the northern Rockies, today's wolves are descendants of Canadian wolves that recolonized northwest Montana in the early 1980s and 66 wolves that were reintroduced in northwest Wyoming and central Idaho in the mid-1990s.

Federal rules require Montana, Idaho and Wyoming to maintain a minimum total of 300 wolves, although agency officials say they are committed to maintaining at least 450 and that the actual population likely will be about 1,000.

Environmental groups say at least 2,000 to 5,000 wolves are needed to maintain a healthy population and that wolf numbers will be decimated by legalized hunting and loosened restrictions on when wolves can be killed to protect game herds, pack animals and domestic dogs.

Gray wolves' delisting is slated to start March 28, but it could be delayed by a legal challenge from conservation groups that support continued federal protection.

Despite the political and legal uncertainty, biologists are preparing for the day when wolves are treated like other big-game species rather than an untouchable wilderness icon.

“No matter where you stand on wolves, whether you love them or hate them, we can argue until the sun doesn't give heat anymore, but everybody wants an accurate count and that's what we're trying to do,� Ausband said.

Reporter John Cramer can be reached at 523-5259 or at johncramer@missoulian.com.

[cecil j.]

[Emily]

Academics are often lacking in both common sense and hunting experience. We don't have wolves here, but I can tell you my hounds talk to the yotes in the surrounding mountains all the time right from my yard. On any given night, I can tell you where the yotes are and how many are in each direction...