Evaluation of a Simulated Howling Survey for Wolves

Fuller, Todd K.; Sampson, Barry A.

doi:10.2307/3801059

Cited by 77 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The boundaries of the study area were defined by data collected on the presence of the wolf in the region during the years before research started by interviewing game keepers, state foresters, hunters, stockbreeders and shepards. The study area was searched to check for the current presence of wolves by the wolf-howling method (Harrington and Mech 1982, Strickland 1983, Fuller and Sampson 1988 and by recording tracks, scats and carcasses of preyed animals. All predations on livestock were recorded and verified during the study period.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat use and diet of the wolf in northern Italy

et al. 1991

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. 1991. Habitat use and diet of the wolf in northern Italy. Acta theriol. 36: 141 -151.Habitat use and diet of wolves Canis lupus were examined in a mountainous area in the northern Apennines (northern Italy) from December 1987 to March 1989. Wolf signs were looked for along 22 transects representative of the different habitat types of the study area in order to define seasonal differences in habitat use. Scats were collected and analysed to identify the main food items used by wolves in each season. Changes in range surface area were recorded in different seasons in relation to food availability and territoriality of the wolves. Pastures and bushy areas were selected in all seasons, while mixed woods were used only in autumn and conifer reafforestations in winter and spring. Beech woods and arable land were avoided all year round. The main food items of the wolves were fruit (Rosaceae), livestock and wild boar. Fruit was above all in winter and spring, livestock (sheep and calves) mainly in summer during the grazing period and wild boar all year round. The presence of the wolves in northern Italy is only partially dependent on food sources of human origin but these arc of fundamental importance during the period of pup rearing.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat use and diet of the wolf in northern Italy

et al. 1991

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“…This method was employed in several studies involving either wolf pack censuses (Harrington & Mech 1982;Fuller & Sampson 1988) or the acquisition of howling data from captive (Frommolt 1999;Palacios et al 2007) and wild wolves (Harrington & Mech 1978b;Harrington 1987).…”

Section: Data Collection and Sound Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous papers have considered the behavioural and ecological issues of wolf howling in relation to the defence of resources and aggressive behaviour (Harrington 1987;Harrington & Mech 1979;1983), to timing of wolf activity (Harrington & Mech 1978b;Gazzola et al 2002;Nowak et al 2007), or to wolf pack census technique (Harrington & Mech 1982;Fuller & Sampson 1988). Some studies considered the acoustic structure of North American wolf howls (Theberge & Falls 1967;Harrington & Mech 1978a;Harrington 1989;Tooze et al 1990); while others, carried out in Eurasia, with the exception of Nikolskii et al (1986) and Nikolskii & Frommolt (1989) that were performed in nature, were limited to captive wolves (Nikolskii & Frommolt 1985;Schassburger 1987;1993;Frommolt 1999;Palacios et al 2007) and failed to account for the actual influence of captivity on vocalizations (McCarley 1978).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Acoustic Structure of Wolf Howls in Some Eastern Tuscany (Central Italy) Free Ranging Packs

et al. 2010

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Italian wolf howls are described for the first time from observations between 2003-2008 of a population living in eastern Tuscany, central Italy. A sample of 37 howls selected among single responses and 128 howls included in the choruses of 7 free ranging packs was recorded and analysed. The mean fundamental frequency of the howls ranged between 274-908 Hz. Two main structures recognised by means of multivariate explorative analysis, in particular Principal Component and Cluster Analysis, were ascribed to breaking and flat howls. Discriminant Function Analysis was applied to the recognised groups with the aim to find a general rule for classification. Howls with different features were correctly assigned to the groups obtained by explorative analysis in 95.8% of cases. The analysis of the variables characterising the structure of the howls suggests that maximum frequency and range of fundamental frequency are the most important parameters for classification, while duration does not appear to play any significant role.

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“…Wolves in the Montmorency Forest responded to 5% of simulated howls, a response rate that was low but comparable with other studies in eastern Canada (Crête and Messier 1987) and the USA (Fuller and Sampson 1988). Past research has revealed that wolves and coyotes reply to approximately 25% of elicitations, on average, but their response rates may range from 0.1% to 56.8% (Supplementary Table S2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…A prime example is found in the Algonquin National Park, Ontario, Canada, where more than 10 000 people participate in wolf howling sessions each year (http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/). Simulated howlings have also been used to facilitate detection of wild canids for observation, data acquisition, capture, or culling (Alcorn 1946;Robbins and McCreery 2003), and to assess the abundance of wolves and coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823) over broad areas (Crête and Messier 1987;Fuller and Sampson 1988;Hansen et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space use by gray wolves (Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation

2017

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Simulated wolf howling sessions are a popular ecotourism activity, but no exhaustive evaluation has been made on their potential impacts on wolf ecology. We evaluated the effects of simulated wolf howling sessions on the space use of gray wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) in the Montmorency Forest (Quebec, Canada). Although we equipped 22 individuals with GPS collars from 2005 to 2008, only four wolves could potentially hear our 20 simulated howls (July to October 2008). We used power analyses to select two spatiotemporal scales of analysis with sufficient location data to investigate wolf reactions. We evaluated the distance and orientation of wolf movements relative to howling stations, their movement rates, and their mean distance to other collared pack members, which we used as an index of pack cohesion. We found that wolves approached howling stations (at both scales) and were closer to other pack members (at broad scale only) after simulated howls. The reactions of wolves were of relatively low magnitude, and we conclude that simulated howling sessions were unlikely to have strong negative impacts on the movement patterns of wolves. We encourage future studies to evaluate the effects of simulated howling on the activity levels and fine-scale space use by wolves.Key words: animal communication, Canis lupus, ecotourism, gray wolf, satellite telemetry.Résumé : Bien que les sessions d'appels aux loups réalisées dans le cadre d'activités écotouristiques soient populaires, aucune évaluation exhaustive de leurs impacts sur l'écologie du loup n'a été faite à ce jour. Nous avons évalué l'utilisation de l'espace du loup gris (Canis lupus L., 1758) en réponse à des appels simulés dans la Forêt Montmorency (Québec, Canada). Bien que nous ayons muni 22 individus de colliers GPS entre 2005 et 2008, seulement quatre loups ont vraisemblablement pu entendre nos 20 appels simulés (juillet à octobre 2008). Nous avons utilisé des analyses de puissance afin de cerner deux échelles spatiotemporelles d'analyse ayant suffisamment de localisations télémétriques pour évaluer les réactions de ces loups. Nous avons ensuite mesuré la distance et l'orientation des loups par rapport aux stations d'appel, leurs taux de déplacement, ainsi que leur distance moyenne par rapport à d'autres membres de la meute, que nous avons utilisé comme un indice de la cohésion de la meute. Nous avons observé que les loups s'approchaient des stations d'appel (aux deux échelles) et étaient plus près des autres membres de leur meute (à grande échelle seulement) à la suite d'un appel simulé. Ces réactions étaient toutefois de faible ampleur et nous concluons que nos appels simulés n'ont probablement pas eu d'impact négatif sur les patrons de déplacement des loups. Nous encourageons davantage d'études sur les effets des appels simulés sur les niveaux d'activité et l'utilisation de l'espace à fine échelle des loups.

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Evaluation of a Simulated Howling Survey for Wolves

Cited by 77 publications

References 3 publications

Habitat use and diet of the wolf in northern Italy

Habitat use and diet of the wolf in northern Italy

The Acoustic Structure of Wolf Howls in Some Eastern Tuscany (Central Italy) Free Ranging Packs

Space use by gray wolves (Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation

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