Canids Interactions - Interspecific Conflicts

[Sanju]

Wolves and Cougars coexist by employing an evolution strategy to mitigate direct competition effects... Wolves encounter cougars along portions of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent mountain ranges. Wolves and cougars typically avoid encountering each other by hunting on different elevations.

However in winter, when snow accumulation forces their prey into valleys, interactions between the two species become more likely. Wolves in packs usually dominate cougars and can steal their kills. They have been reported killing mothers and their kittens. Cougars too do the same thing and lone or two wolves are in danger due to cougars. (Wolves: Behaviour, Ecology and Conservation, "Cougar Wolf Interactions: It's a Lot Like Cats and Dogs")

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But wolves couldn't coexist with humans and rather became domesticated during late Pleistocene from don wolf. Other than humans, only other predator with which wolves couldn't mange to coexist is the Amur tiger coz they couldn't co-evolve like dhole to find an evolutionary strategy to be in the race of direct competition and other reason is low prey base in Siberian far east but may or may not find a way to coexist with tigers in future.

Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol. II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears)
Perry, R. (1964). The World of the Tiger, Cassell & Company
Lopez, Barry H. (1978). Of Wolves and Men.
Mech, L. David; Boitani, Luigi, eds. (2003). Wolves: Behaviour, Ecology and Conservation.
Heptner, V. G. & Sludskii, A. A. (1992). Mammals of the Soviet Union: Carnivora (hyaenas and cats), Volume 2

Wolf and tiger interactions are well documented in Sikhote-Alin, where tigers depress wolf numbers, either to the point of localized extinction or to such low numbers as to make them a functionally insignificant component of the ecosystem.

Wolves appear capable of escaping competitive exclusion from tigers only when tiger numbers decreases in recent times due to low and limited herbivore population in boreal forests. The main reason for low wolf population in Siberia is due to greater efficiency of tiger as keystone species and ultimate apex predator; driving away or taking over kills by chasing wolves from wolf made kills by tigers most of the time successfully and dominantly as an example of kleptoparasitism (it happens same with brown bear but due to inefficency to take over kills from wolves "all the time" but seldom and lifestyle as omnivore apex predator made brown bear-wolf coexistence possible) resulting in intense competition for very limited resources ranther than due to direct predation or killing of wolves by tigers. In fact, proven cases of tigers killing wolves are very rare and seldom occur with only four proven records of tigers killing wolves without consuming them concluding severe competition from tiger coupled with brown bear as major culprit of wolf low population or almost competitive exclusion in Siberia.

"Tigers and Wolves in the Russian Far East: Competitive Exclusion, Functional Redundancy and Conservation Implications"

Unlike Eurasian grey wolf spp. Indian wolf spp is quite well managed and comfortably coexisting with Bengal tigers and pallipes with caspian once. Reply