A Michigan Passport is required for entry to the park and may be purchased there. Keep in mind during hunting season to be aware of hunters in the area. Hunting is allowed from September 15 untill April 1st each year.
Canis lupus
Gray Wolf
Key Characteristics
Wolves are the largest wild member of the dog family, between 4.5 and 6 feet (1.4 - 1.8 m) in length (nose to tail) and covered in a grizzled gray coat with a darker shoulder mantle. The tail is approximately 1.5 feet (0.5 m) long. Average weight is from 58 - 67 pounds (26 - 30 kg) with a maximum of 100 pounds (45 kg). Tracks range from 2.8 to 3.3 inches (7 - 8.3 cm) wide and 3.7 to 5.5 inches (9.5 - 14 cm) long and have pronounced claw marks, unlike wild cats.
Habitat
Wolves have no specific habitat requirements, other than minimal disturbance from humans and a sufficiently large mammal prey base (primarily white-tailed deer but also snowshoe hare, beaver, and other mammals). Areas of 100 square miles with road densities less than 1 mile of linear road per square mile are suitable wolf habitat, although areas such as trails, roads, and ice-covered bodies of water are often utilized. Dens are typically situated in underground burrows, often enlarging those excavated by other animals, as well as rock crevices and ledges, hollow logs, overturned stumps, and debris piles. The distribution of wolves is larger than the colored map indicates, extending through much of the UP. They have also recently been documented in the northern Lower Peninsula for the first time in nearly 100 years, presumably crossing the frozen Straits of Mackinac in the winter.