1,720,965 research outputs found
Commercial hunt and predator control? The case of Rennie lake area wolf kill
No full textA controversial wolf hunt in 1998 killed 633 wolves in the 13,000 km2 Rennie Lake area of the Northwest
Territories, a region straddling the tundra-boreal forest transition, and another 125 wolves from adjacent areas.
Although wolves have been hunted there for decades, the controversy focused on the number of wolves killed and
use of snowmobiles in the hunt. From available records, annual kill has averaged 258 wolves ±59.7 (±1 SE, n=10
years). The territorial government considered the 1998 hunt sustainable given the reproductive potential of wolves
and also noted that a higher than average number of caribou brought a corresponding increase in wolves following them. We re-examined the Rennie Lake area wolf hunt and evaluated radio-tracking and genetic data for wolves to
determine the potential influence of the hunt on overall wolf survival and implications of reduced wolf predation on
caribou. Our analysis suggests that the 1998 hunt targeted an estimated 2700 wolves from an area of at least 200,000
km2 in which an unusually high number of migratory caribou had congregated. Removal of about 750 wolves in
1998 could have released an estimated 15,000 caribou from predation that year, or 3% of the estimated half million
caribou in the area then. If predation is additive mortality for caribou, then our data challenges the hypothesis that
migratory caribou are lightly influenced by wolf predation. Accordingly, the commercial Rennie Lake wolf hunt may
not only be a commercial hunt for fur, but also an indirect form of predator control
Hunting, migration and sinks/sources among Northern Canadian wolf (Canis lupus) populations
No full textRethinking wolf differentiation based on concordant genetic, morphological and behavioral traits
No full textConcentrated harvest, migration and genetics of Northern Canadian wolf populations: A preliminary analysis
No full text
Evolutionary units, management units and hunting of wolves associated with migratory caribou or resident prey
No full text
Maintaining differentiation without geographic isolation in the North American gray wolf
No full textA common element of speciation models is geographic isolation. However, this requirement presents a problem
for differentiation and related speciation of large carnivorous mammals that can disperse over long distances. The
gray wolf is the most vagile terrestrial vertebrate species, and record dispersal events have been observed.
Consequently, even widely separated populations are poorly differentiated. Wolves are generally described as
territorial year-round. However, some populations of tundra and taiga-living wolves are reported to migrate over
distances of hundreds of kilometres, and to be paler in coloration. Using satellite telemetry, we show that tundra
wolves (n=19) follow barren ground caribou (n=19) on their 1500-kilometre annual migration. We also analysed
genetics and coloration in tundra, taiga and boreal forest wolves (n=258, n=82 and n=64 respectively). Although
tundra/taiga wolves overlap with forest conspecifics during the winter breeding season, they were differentiated
from them and had Fst values of 0.30, 0.04, and 0.07 for mitochondrial, microsatellite and Y-chromosome markers
(p<0.001 in all cases). Further, 93% of tundra/taiga wolves had a pale coloration whereas only 38% of forest wolves
did (X2=85, p<0.0001). We suggest that specialization on migratory prey and selection for pale coloration in snow-
covered habitats provide the basis for reproductive isolation. Tundra/taiga migratory and boreal forest territorial
wolves are distinct but interconnected conservation entities. Hunting impacts on wolves may be substantial in areas
where migratory and resident individuals congregate seasonally. Such impacts should be evaluated for the two
ecotypes of wolves, and opportunities for migration should be maintained
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