I've been given a chance for a small crowd Meet & Greet with John Vucetich

[Midwest Ed]

The first week in August is my college 40th reunion at Michigan Tech where Prof. Vucetich teachs and does his research. It will be a one hour talk with Q&A. I expect the crowd to be fairly small and I'm so excited for the opportunity. Anyone have a burning queston? The other one I'm signed up for is a Pasty making demo and tasting at my old dorm. I do like a good Pasty but I mostly want to see my old dorm again.

[torpified]

Two thing it's hard not to be curious about:

1) what's expected to happen with the moose population, now that the wolves are (apparently) basically out of the picture? Do different models make different predictions about how the prey population behaves in the absence of a predator population?

2) what does he think about re-introducing wolves? If he's for it, what does he think the best way to do it is?

[hooky]

Going hand in hand with torpified 1st question, what's the expectation of what will happen to flora on the island with an unchecked moose population browsing without a predator in the mix?

[head2north]

Will not be attending MTU alumni reunion, but hope to get up there again soon.

I am curious about the (Echinococcus granulosus) tapeworm. Would it be possible to eliminate this parasite with immunization of reintroduced wolves along
with their future offspring?

[Midwest Ed]

Will not be attending MTU alumni reunion, but hope to get up there again soon.

I am curious about the (Echinococcus granulosus) tapeworm. Would it be possible to eliminate this parasite with immunization of reintroduced wolves along
with their future offspring?

Indeed an interesting question. I've wondered about how the wolf extirpation might affect the long term survival of the existing tapeworm cycle. I think the red fox can also act as a host for the adult tapeworm. If the wolf is the only adult host then a related question would be, "what is the "life expectancy" of eggs laying on vegetation?" I would expect at some point in the future, new moose would cease to become infected. Unfortunately for my scenario to play out, predators could not be introduced until after that last infected moose died.

[Midwest Ed]

The presentation by Dr. John Vucetich was very nice. I tried to make a video of the whole thing but my battery overheated twice so I missed several seconds at 2 spots. Plus the audio could be better. It was purely an impromptu filming.

I think he answered the questions presented here. I asked about tape worms (not in video) and he stated there was a fair probability that newly transplanted wolves would already be infected. Plus the only real way to not re-infect new wolves would be to wait until all the presently infected moose died off which would be a fairly long proposition.

Overall it was a great presenstration that lasted about 50 minutes. The first half was dedicated to describing the ecology and normal life cycles of a wolf-moose population. There were several pieces of information presented that were new to me. During the second half he made a very even-handed presentation (IMO) regarding the present situation. The Isle Royale National Park Superintendent Phyllis Green was in attendance and at one point you will see Dr. Vucetich call upon her for a comment.

[Wanderlust]

Good lecture. Just the sort of thing I'd bring a crabby toddler to :p

Thanks for sharing!