Wolves Prowl Residential Streets in Northern Minnesota
The residents of Ely, a small city in northern Minnesota, are living in a state of heightened alert following a series of bold and repeated grey wolf sightings within their community. These iconic predators have been seen prowling residential streets and even on school grounds, creating a disturbing new reality for the city's 3,000 inhabitants.
While Ely is situated on the edge of the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, making wildlife encounters commonplace, the recent proximity and frequency of these wolf visits have locals concerned that the animals are becoming too comfortable around humans.
Close Encounters and Political Fallout
The situation escalated on November 7, 2025, when a lone wolf was spotted walking on the grounds of the Ely School District while students were inside attending classes. In a separate incident, a local police squad car captured video of two wolves running down a city street. The police department shared the footage on Facebook, captioning it with a winking emoji and a reminder about the city's leash law.
This visual evidence ignited a fierce online debate, with one commenter demanding, 'Still don't think there's a wolf problem??'
In response, US Rep Pete Stauber, who represents the region, is leading the charge for the federal government to delist the grey wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). He argues that the Minnesota wolf population has fully recovered and that federal protection is now hindering necessary state management, creating a threat to public safety and prey species.
'Seeing a wolf stroll near a school while kids are in class is a stark reminder that grey wolf populations are WELL past restored,' Stauber stated in a Facebook post. His sentiment was echoed by Representative Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, who cited livestock and pet attacks alongside the school sighting.
Stauber is also advocating for the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, legislation intended to return wolf management to state control to protect farmers, ranchers, and residents.
A Booming Population and a Clash of Views
The core of the dispute lies in the successful recovery of the grey wolf population in Minnesota. The most recent estimate from the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in 2023 placed the population at 2,919 wolves, with projections suggesting it could now be as high as 3,624. The state's own management plan aims to maintain a population between 2,200 and 3,000 wolves, stating that if numbers exceed 3,000, additional management actions should be considered.
Stauber contends this threshold has been 'unequivocally surpassed.' However, under current federal rules, wolves in Minnesota can only be killed in defence of human life or by government agents to protect livestock.
Conservation advocates strongly oppose delisting. Susan Holmes, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition, warned that removing protections risks reversing the recovery and could lead back to widespread hunting and trapping.
Amid the political wrangling, local discussions focus on the cause of the wolves' incursion. Some residents suggest the animals are simply following deer that have been lured into neighbourhoods by people feeding them. Experts have sought to calm fears, affirming that while wolves pose a known threat to livestock and pets, the risk to humans is exceptionally low. A 2020 study noted that fatal wolf attacks in North America and Europe over an 18-year period were extremely rare, making the statistical risk 'above zero, but far too low to calculate.'
