Travel Rates of Wolves, <em>Canis lupus</em>, in Relation to Ungulate Kill Sites in Westcentral Alberta

Abstract

. 2005. Travel rates of Wolves, Canis lupus, in relation to ungulate kill sites in westcentral Alberta. Canadian Field-Naturalist 119(4): 573-577.Recent advancements in Global Positioning Systems (GPS) radiocollar technology permit analysis of fine-scale animal movements. We used concurrent aerial and GPS monitoring to determine winter travel rates of Wolves (Canis lupus) in relation to ungulate kill sites in managed forest landscapes in westcentral Alberta. Wolves preyed predominately on Moose (Alces alces) and travelled 4.2 times less when near ungulate kill sites than when away from them. As Wolves are thought to be an important factor in Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) declines, information is needed to assess predation risk to Caribou from Wolves under a variety of landscape conditions. If Wolves have restricted movements near Moose kill sites, this may lead to decreased encounter rates with Caribou in systems where Moose are abundant. Deer (Odocoileus spp.) are probably an important component of this Wolf-prey system but little is currently known about this relationship. Projecting long-term implications of ongoing development activities requires a more detailed understanding of the responses of all species to landscape change.Key Words: Moose, Alces alces, Wolf, Canis lupus, predation risk, Woodland Caribou, Rangifer tarandus caribou, GPS data, Alberta.age 16ºC in July and -13.5ºC in December (Beckingham and Archibald 1996). The forests are primarily Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) and some White Spruce (Picea glauca). The wetland complexes support mostly Black Spruce (Picea mariana) and some Tamarack (Larix laricina). Some south facing slopes support Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) and willow (Salix sp.).This area supports a high diversity of large mammals: Woodland Caribou, Moose, Elk (Cervus elaphus), White-tailed Deer, Mule Deer (Odocoileus heminous), Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis), Mountain Goats (Oreamnos americanus) and wild Horses (Equus cabalus). Wolves, Coyotes (C. latrans), Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos), Black Bears (Ursus americanus) and Cougars (Felis concolor) also exist throughout the study area.Major land use activities include forest harvesting, oil and gas exploration and development, coal mining, commercial trapping, and public uses such as hunting, fishing, hiking, horse packing and camping. Access is primarily on roads created for resource extraction, pipelines and seismic lines. Further descriptions of the study area can be found in Smith et al. (2000). Wolf captures and radio-trackingIn January 2000, three Wolves from different packs (Simonette, Cutbank and Prairie Creek) were captured and immobilized by helicopter darting (Ballard et al. 1991) or netgunning (Kuzyk 2002) and instrumented with GPS radiocollars (Lotek Engineering Sytems, Newmarket, Ontario). All Wolf handling was approved by the University of Alberta's Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics Animal Care Policy (Number 96-99D), subject to the protocols of the Canadian Council of Animal ...

Pack Size of Wolves, <em>Canis lupus</em>, on Caribou, <em>Rangifer tarandus</em>, Winter Ranges in Westcentral Alberta

“…The importance of deer to Wolves in this study area should not be underestimated. Kuzyk et al (2005) found Wolves in this study area traveled 4.2 times less when near ungulate carcasses then when away from them, and suggested that Wolf packs preying primarily on deer, as opposed to Moose, may pose a greater predation risk to Caribou due to associated increase travel and encounter rates. Further research to quantify the importance of deer in this Wolf-ungulate system should be initiated such as measuring Wolf encounter rates with deer (Kunkel et al 2004).…”

“…The larger Wolf packs (Lynx Creek n = 18; Simonette n = 11) preyed primarily on Moose, whereas the smallest pack (Prairie Creek n = 5) preyed predominately on deer, consistent with results from other nearby studies (Carbyn 1974;Weaver 1994). A confounding factor in estimating numbers of Wolf-killed ungulates in west-central Alberta is the difficulty of detecting Wolf-killed deer (Kuzyk 2002;Kuzyk et al 2005), due to the small size and cryptic color of deer, and the short time required for Wolves to consume deer carcasses (Fuller 1989). All Wolf packs in this study were observed either hunting deer or at deer kills.…”