The Wolf (<i>Canis lupus</i>) in Greenland: A Historical Review and Present Status

Abstract

In the past few decades, little information on the wolf (Canis lupus) in Greenland has been published. The decline of the species and its extirpation in the late 1930s from East Greenland is well documented. Since then, there has been a tendency for wolves sighted in the North and East Greenland National Park to be classified as temporary visitors wandering afar from adjacent Canada, with no prospect of survival in Greenland for anything but a short period. In view of the virtual absence of human population in this vast region, that assumption may not be accurate.There is now abundant evidence to indicate that a renewed immigration and dispersal of wolves has been taking place during the last years, with a migration route from Ellesmere Island eastward across North Greenland into Peary Land, and then southward into the fjord region of central East Greenland. The wolf is reoccupying its former range and by the winter of 1983 wolves had reached the Scoresby Sund region the species' southernmost temtory of the 1930s.Examination of the published records and all available unpublished data provides a historical picture of the status of the wolf in Greenland, from which some conclusions can be made regarding populations, pack size, migration routes, feeding habits and travelling distances.

Ancient DNA analyses exclude humans as the driving force behind late Pleistocene musk ox ( Ovibos moschatus ) population dynamics

“…Although other species, such as caribou, are known to have been present in Greenland during the last interglacial (46), the fossil record shows that musk ox first arrived in Greenland during the mid-Holocene, with the oldest samples dated to 4,500 14 C YBP, from Paleoeskimo Independence I archeological sites in Northeast and Northwest Greenland (47). The fossil record and the modern geographical range of the musk ox suggest that dispersal into Greenland took place from Ellesmere Island in Canada by way of the Robeson Channel to Northwest Greenland, followed by dispersal along the east coast into central East Greenland (48,49). Our results are consistent with this pattern, and support a single colonization event followed by population expansion.…”

Paleoeskimo Dogs of the Eastern Arctic

“…The Greenland wolf has always been a sporadic and uncommon animal whose presence represents movements of Canadian animals across ice-bound seas in winter (Vibe, 1981;Dawes et al, 1986). Archaeological and historical evidence indicates, however, that wolves were present in west Greenland at least occasionally during pre-colonial times (Vibe, 1967;Møhl, 1982;Dawes et al, 1986).…”

“…Archaeological and historical evidence indicates, however, that wolves were present in west Greenland at least occasionally during pre-colonial times (Vibe, 1967;Møhl, 1982;Dawes et al, 1986). West Greenland wolves would almost certainly represent immigrants from Baffin Island, assigned to the subspecies Canis lupus manningi (Dawes et al, 1986).…”

“…Archaeological and historical evidence indicates, however, that wolves were present in west Greenland at least occasionally during pre-colonial times (Vibe, 1967;Møhl, 1982;Dawes et al, 1986). West Greenland wolves would almost certainly represent immigrants from Baffin Island, assigned to the subspecies Canis lupus manningi (Dawes et al, 1986). More northerly populations in the Thule District and into northeast Greenland would be derived from Canis lupus arctos populations of Canada's eastern Queen Elizabeth Islands (Nowak, 1983;Dawes et al, 1986).…”

Nipisat - a Saqqaq culture site in Sisimiut, central West Greenland (Vol. 331)

“…Dogs seem to be the more plausible large carnivores at Nipisat. Although wolves cannot be excluded, they are rare in the archaeological record of West Greenland and also today only occur sporadically (Vibe 1967;Dawes et al 1986). In Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bay) at Qeqertasussuk, dogs accompanied humans when they first settled on the island at c. 2400 BC (see Morey and Aaris-Sørensen 2002).…”