Northwestern Wolf

Appearance

The wolf has a height of 85 cm and a length between 150 and 196 cm with an average male weight of 56.3 kilograms and for females 38.5 kilograms. Individual weights can vary from 32 kilograms to 60 kilograms. In Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve male wolves average 56.3 kg and females 44 kg; in Denali National Park and Preserve male wolves average 52.6 kg. One specimen weighed 81.4 kilograms. It was killed on 70 Mile River in east-central Alaska on July 12, 1939. One wolf was purported to weigh 212 pounds, however large Alaskan wolves are known to hold up to 20 pounds of moose meat in their stomachs. The most common color for this subspecies is tawny grey or tan, but can also range from white to black. The lifespan ranges from 4 to 10 years, the oldest being 12 years.

Distribution

This wolf is native to the interior of Alaska, United States, and the Yukon, Canada save for the tundra region of the Arctic Coast. Yukon wolves' main habitats are boreal forests, alpine, subalpine, and Arctic tundra. The population in Canadian Yukon is estimated to be 5,000, which ranges in all of Yukon except for Kluane National Park. The population density depends on prey, with the densest population being in Teslin, Yukon, Canada where there are 9 wolves per 1,000 square kilometers, while the least dense is in Northern Yukon, with 3 wolves per 1,000 square kilometers.

Food

The diet of this wolf varies by region – moose is the main prey in southern Yukon, followed by boreal woodland caribou and Dall sheep. Barren-ground caribou is main prey in the North Slope. When hunting moose, wolves mainly kill calves and old moose when fleeing. Usually the hunting success rate for moose is 10% in one hunt, and a pack usually kill a moose every 5 to 6 days to eat for 2 – 3 days. Moose are more likely to stand their ground than caribou, which tend to flee, decreasing their survival rate. Wolves usually kill a caribou every 3 days during winter and eat for a day. Dall sheep are common prey in Kluane Game Sanctuary and National Park when moose and caribou are not available.In early 2009, the US Board of Game passed through a plan by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game that allowed " the state to hire private helicopters to kill wolves." The plan itself had been given to the Board of Game after the period of public comment has passed, which made it so that the public had no say in the plan or its workings. The Alaska division of the Defenders of Wildlife was outraged over these actions, stating that "the Palin administration and the Board of Game are acting with complete disregard for scientific wildlife management."

A few days later, an abrupt government-sanctioned aerial wolf hunt began in Alaska. It was initiated within only a few hours after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game told the National Park Service that such an effort was going to be undertaken in the area around Tanana. With about 200 wolves being the goal stated for the hunt, more than 30 were killed within the first day, including those that had been radio-collared for research purposes. The National Park Service was greatly displeased with the loss of collared wolves, as they had been part of a 20-year study.

Before the hunt began, the National Park Service released a statement that said that, if the hunting plan was continued to completion, "this would leave one-to-two wolves per 1,000 square kilometers in the Upper Yukon Wolf Control Area, approximating the lowest known wolf population densities in Alaska."

Evolution

In pre-colonial Canada, the local Aboriginal population hunted this wolf for its fur. This continued into the 1800s, with colonists selling wolf furs to Aboriginal tribes in the area, who used them to line their clothing.

The first true mapping of the wolf population in the Yukon began in the 1950s and, subsequently, a program of wolf-poisoning began. This came about because of the public stigma regarding wolves during the time.