Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Decline And Recovery Of A High Arctic Wolf-Prey System, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

A long-existing system of wolves (Canis lupus), muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), and arctic hares (Lepus arcticus) in a 2600 km² area of Canada’s High Arctic (80° N latitude) began collapsing in 1997 because of unusual adverse summer weather but recovered to a level at which all three species were reproducing by 2004. Recovery of wolf presence and reproduction appeared to be more dependent on muskox increase than on hare increase.

Un vieux système biologique composé de loups (Canis lupus), de boeufs musqués (Ovibos moschatus) et de lièvres arctiques (Lepus …

Bears Remain Top Summer Predators, Shannon M. Barber, L. David Mech, P. J. White

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

In the ten years since wolves (Canis lupus) were restored to Yellowstone National Park (YNP), elk (Cervus elaphus) numbers have substantially decreased. The northern range elk herd is the largest elk herd in Yellowstone, and constitutes the majority of the park’s elk population. During 1994–2005, early winter counts of northern Yellowstone elk decreased from 19,045 to 9,545. Also, during winters 2000–2004, calf:cow ratios declined from 29:100 to 12:100, and were among the lowest recorded during the past several decades. Though many factors (e.g., predation, hunting, and drought) likely contributed to this decreasing abundance and low recruitment, …