Gray wolves may no longer be endangered in this US state – and a network of 1,311 trail cameras capturing more than 2 million images is helping to prove it

In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the gray wolf population has recovered to a point where the species may no longer require endangered status, according to the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This conclusion is based on data collected by 1,311 trail cameras, marking the first time the state has tracked and monitored the gray wolf population throughout an entire year.

Although the gray wolf remains federally protected, recent research indicates that the population has surpassed the DNR's recovery goals, potentially leading to the species' reclassification as recovered.

Matt Nelson, a researcher and doctoral candidate at Michigan State University, will spend the next three months retrieving memory cards from the trail cameras, collecting data from now until October. The camera traps offer a more efficient and weather-independent method of monitoring the species' population compared to traditional methods, such as tracking snow tracks in the winter.

Snow tracks could follow wolf packs across up to 60% of the Upper Peninsula, but monitoring the species' health using snow tracks only provides a seasonal insight and can be highly dependent on weather conditions.

Researchers employed machine learning software to analyze images from the trail cameras, identifying wolves and excluding other species. Fact-checking was conducted to ensure the accuracy of the computer program's analysis. The data collected from the cameras, when combined with snow track data, yielded similar population estimates.

During the winter of 2024, the snow tracking method estimated 768 wolves, while the camera survey estimated 773. By the fall of the same year, the camera survey's population estimate exceeded 1,000 wolves, reaching a peak of 1,198 in October 2024.