What Happens When Wolves Return to an Island?

In early 2018, Isle Royale's wolves were down to two: a father and daughter who were also half-siblings. In 2018 and 2019, the National Park Service released 19 gray wolves on the island. As of the 2026 count, there were an estimated 37. The moose have fallen about 75% since 2019, and in 2026, for the first time in 68 years, the winter moose count found no calves. So why are the young fir trees growing less than researchers have ever measured? And what happens when one family makes up so much of a new wolf population? Would you have brought wolves back to Isle Royale? Tell me why in the comments. CHAPTERS 0:00 The last two wolves 0:28 Sixty-eight winters of counting 1:18 Down to a father and daughter 3:07 Nineteen strangers, by boat and plane 4:21 The winter with no calves 5:46 Why hasn't the fir come back? 6:37 One family's island? 8:16 What nobody has measured SOURCES Hoy, Peterson & Vucetich (2026), Michigan Tech annual report: the 2026 wolf and moose counts Michigan Tech News (2026): the 2026 Winter Study, including balsam fir growth Sovie et al. (2026), Conservation Science and Practice: five years of the relocated wolves Robinson et al. (2019), Science Advances: what inbreeding did to the island's wolves Hervey et al. (2021), Conservation Genetics: the first genetic look at the new wolves National Park Service (2024): where the 19 relocated wolves came from Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project: the wolf that arrived on his own in 1997 FOOTAGE Beeblebrox via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA) KimonBerlin via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA) Cecil Sanders from Wasilla, USA via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY) Pixabay: naturalusvideo, LisaOlivia, NickyPe, Sommerland, D-GM, DistillVideos, Zethian, Matthias_Groeneveld, krzys16, Nils_Vega, XanhSen901, RuslanSikunov, extemporalist, BichaSo_117, thenorthbaybay, RoyBuri, AnonymAT, adege, agentluca, Life-Of-Vids Licensed library: Storyblocks National Park Service (public domain): NPS/Neal Herbert Wikimedia Commons (public domain / CC0): USFWS Mountain-Prairie #IsleRoyale #wolves #moose