In Fall 2017, a group of researchers began a project to understand how the reintroduction of large predators will affect an ecosystem. Wolves have been found at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, a biological field station of the College of Biological Sciences. MSI PI Craig Packer (Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior), a lion expert who heads the long-running Snapshot Serengeti project, is assisting with a similar project at Cedar Creek to study the wolves and their effect on the landscape. The researchers will set up over 100 camera traps to record the wolves and other wildlife, and study their behavior. The images will also be used for a new online citizen-science project called Snapshot Cedar Creek, in which the public can learn about Minnesota wildlife.
MSI has supported Snapshot Serengeti for several years, providing storage for the millions of images generated by the project. The project was featured on the MSI website in July 2015: Wildlife in the Serengeti.
An article about the Cedar Creek project can be found on the CBS website: A Wolf Den and an Opportunity.