A Ten-year History of the Demography and Productivity of an Arctic Wolf Pack

A pack of two to eight adult wolves (Canis lupus arctos) and their pups was observed during ten summers (1986-95) on Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. The author habituated the wolf pack to his presence in the first summer and reinforced the habituation each summer thereafter. The first alpha female produced four to six pups each year between 1986 and 1989. However, her daughter, who succeeded her as the alpha female, produced only one to three pups each year between 1990 and 1992 and in 1994, and apparently did not whelp in 1993 or in 1995. The tenure of the first alpha male was at least two years, and his successor was alpha male for the remaining eight years of the study. The wolf pack was characterized by highly variable annual productivity. The second alpha male-and-female breeding pair likely was an older brother and a younger sister. Early survival of wolf pups was high and constant, with all pups surviving through August of their first year. The pack's demography was consistent with what is known for wolf packs in other regions of North America, but its productivity was more typical of arctic packs.Key words: wolf, Canis lupus, productivity, demography, breeding tenure, survivalOn a observé une bande comprenant de deux à huit loups adultes (Canis lupus arctos) et leurs louveteaux au cours de dix étés (1986-95), dans l'île d'Ellesmere située dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest au Canada. L'auteur a accoutumé la bande à sa présence durant le premier été et a renforcé l'accoutumance durant chaque été subséquent. La première femelle alpha a produit de quatre à six louveteaux chaque année entre 1986 et 1989. Cependant, sa fille, qui lui a succédé en tant que femelle alpha, a produit seulement de un à trois louveteaux chaque année entre 1990 et 1992 et en 1994, et n'a apparemment pas mis bas en 1993 ni en 1995. Le premier mâle alpha a conservé son statut au moins deux ans, et son successeur a été le mâle alpha durant les huit autres années de l'étude. La bande de loups était caractérisée par une productivité annuelle extrêmement variable. Le deuxième couple reproducteur mâle et femelle alpha était probablement constitué d'un frère et de sa soeur plus jeune. La survie précoce des louveteaux était élevée et constante, tous les louveteaux étant toujours en vie à la fin du mois d'août de leur première année. La démographie de la bande s'accordait avec ce que l'on connaît des bandes de loups dans d'autres régions de l'Amérique du Nord, mais sa productivité était plus typique des bandes arctiques.Mots clés: loup, Canis lupus, productivité, démographie, statut de reproducteur, survi

Annual Arctic Wolf Pack Size Related to Arctic Hare Numbers

During the summers of 2000 through 2006, I counted arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos) pups and adults in a pack, arctic hares (Lepus arcticus) along a 9 km index route in the area, and muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) in a 250 km2 part of the area near Eureka (80° N, 86° W), Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Adult wolf numbers did not correlate with muskox numbers, but they were positively related (r2 = 0.89; p < 0.01) to an arctic hare index. This is the first report relating wolf numbers to non-ungulate prey.Pendant les étés 2000 à 2006, j’ai compté les jeunes loups arctiques et les adultes (Canis lupus arctos) d’une bande, les lièvres arctiques (Lepus arcticus) le long d’une route indexée de 9 km dans la région, et les boeufs musqués (Ovibos moschatus) dans une zone de 250 km2 près d’Eureka (80° N, 86° O), sur l’île d’Ellesmere, au Nunavut, Canada. Le nombre de loups adultes ne corrélait pas avec le nombre de boeufs musqués, mais il était relié de manière positive (r2 = 0,89; p < 0,01) à un index de lièvres arctiques. Il s’agit du premier rapport établissant un lien entre le nombre de loups et des proies non ongulées

The Challenge and Opportunity of Recovering Wolf Populations

The gray wolf once inhabited a wide variety of habitats throughout most of the northern hemisphere north of 20°N latitude. Because the animal preyed on livestock and competed with humans for wild prey, it was extirpated from much of its range outside of wilderness areas. Environmental awareness in the late 1960s brought for the wolf legal protection, increased research, and favorable media coverage. The species has increased in both Europe and North America, is beginning to reoccupy semiwilderness and agricultural land, and is causing increased damage to livestock. Because of the wolfs high reproductive rate and long dispersal tendencies, the animal can recolonize many more areas. In most such areas control will be necessary, but the same public sentiments that promoted wolf recovery reject control. If wolf advocates could accept control by the public rather than by the government, wolves could live in far more places. Insistence on government control discourages some officials and government agencies from promoting recovery. The use of large- or small-scale zoning for wolf management may help resolve the issue. Public education is probably the most effective way to minimize the problem and maximize wolf recovery, but the effort must begin immediately. En su momento, el lobo gris habitó la mayor parte del hemisferio norte al norte de los 20° latitud norte, a lo largo de una gran variedad de hábitats. Este animal fue extirpado de la mayor parte de su rango de distribución en áreas no incluidas dentro de zones naturales debido a que predaba sobre ganado y competía con los humanos por presas silvestres. La concientización ambiental defines de los decada de los 60s trajo consigo la protección legal del lobo asi como también un aumento en la investigación cientifica y la cobertura favorable de los medios de difusión sobre esta especie. Esta especie ha aumentado en abundancia tanto en Europa como en América del Norte y esta comenzando a recolonizar tierras seminaturales y agricolas y esta causando un aumento en el daño al ganado. Debido a su alta tasa reproductiva y tendencias de dispersión a gran distancia, el lobo puede recolonizar muchas más áreas. El control de esta especie se hará necesario en la mayoría de tales áreas. Sin embargo, los mismos sentimientos públicos que promovieron la recuperación del lobo rechazan tal control. Los lobos podrían vivir en muchos más lugares si los defensores de los lobos pueden aceptar un control por parte del público antes que por parte del gobierno. La insistencia sobre un control gubernamental desalienta a algunos funcionarios y agencias gubernamentales de promover la recuperación del lobo. El uso de una zonificación en el manejo de los lobos, a gran o pequeña escala podria ayudar a resolver este problema La educación publica es probablemente el camino más efectivo para minimizar el problema y maximizar la recuperación de los lobos, pero la acción debe comenzar en forma inmediata

Gray Wolf (\u3ci\u3eCanis lupus\u3c/i\u3e) Movements and Behavior Around a Kill Site and Implications for GPS Collar Studies

Global Positioning System (GPS) radio-collars are increasingly used to estimate Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) kill rates. In interpreting results from this technology, researchers make various assumptions about wolf behavior around kills, yet no detailed description of this behavior has been published. This article describes the behavior of six wolves in an area of constant daylight during 30 hours, from when the pack killed a Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) calf and yearling on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, to when they abandoned the kill remains. Although this is only a single incident, it demonstrates one possible scenario of pack behavior around a kill. Combined with the literature, this observation supports placing a radio-collar on the breeding male to maximize finding kills via GPS collars and qualifying results depending on whatever other information is available about the collared wolf’s pack

A Gray Wolf (\u3ci\u3eCanis lupus\u3c/i\u3e) Delivers Live Prey to a Pup

A two-year-old sibling Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) carefully captured an Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) leveret alive on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, and delivered it alive to a pup 28–33 days old. This appears to be the first observation of a Gray Wolf delivering live prey to a pup

Proportion of Calves and Adult Muskoxen, \u3ci\u3eOvibos moschatus\u3c/i\u3e Killed by Gray Wolves, \u3ci\u3eCanis lupus\u3c/i\u3e, in July on Ellesmere Island

Generally Gray Wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) tend to focus predation on young-of-the-year ungulates during summer, and I hypothesized that wolves preying on Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus Zimmerman, 1780) in summer would follow that trend. Over 23 July periods observing wolves on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, I found that packs of 2-12 adult wolves killed seven calves, one yearling, and five adult muskoxen at distances of 2.9 to 32 km from their current dens and pups. Given a possible bias against finding calves because of their fewer remains, these results do not necessarily refute the hypothesis, but they do make it clear that adult muskoxen form an important part of the wolves’ diet in July and thus possibly at other times during summer

Studies of the timber wolf in Isle Royale National Park, 1958-1959

First Annual Report, 1958-1959https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/wolf-annualreports/1062/thumbnail.jp

Studies of the timber wolf in Isle Royale National Park, 1959-1960

Second Annual Report, 1959-1960https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/wolf-annualreports/1061/thumbnail.jp

Incidence of Mink, \u3ci\u3eMustela vison\u3c/i\u3e, and River Otter, \u3ci\u3eLutra canadensis\u3c/i\u3e, in a Highly Urbanized Area

Mink (Mustela vison) frequently inhabited or traversed a residential. business. and industrial part of the Twin Cities. Minnesota, with little water or natural vegetation. At least one River Otter (Lutra canadensis) also resided on a small pond on a golf course in the area for several winter months

Use of Erroneous Wolf Generation Time in Assessments of Domestic Dog and Human Evolution

Scientific interest in dog domestication and parallel evolution of dogs and humans (1) has increased recently (2-4), and various important conclusions have been drawn based on how long ago the calculations show dogs were domesticated from ancestral wolves (Canis lupus). According to Skoglund et al. (2015:3), calculation of this duration is based on “the most commonly assumed mutation rate of 1 x 10-8 per generation and a 3-year gray wolf generation time . . .” (5). It is unclear on what information the assumed generation time is based, but the latest paper (6) seems to have based generation time on a single wolf (7). The importance of assuring that such assumptions are valid is obvious. Recently, two independent studies employing three large data sets and three methods from two widely separated areas have found that wolf generation time is 4.2-4.7 years. The first study, based on 200 wolves in Yellowstone National Park used age-specific birth and death rates to calculate a generation time of 4.16 years (8). The second, using estimated first-breeding times of 86 female wolves in northeastern Minnesota found a generation time of 4.3 years and using uterine examination of 159 female wolves from throughout Minnesota yielded a generation time of 4.7 years (9). We suggest that previous studies using a 3-year generation time recalculate their figures and adjust their conclusions based on these generation times and publish revised results