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Canids (Canidae) & Hyaenids (Hyaenidae)
Wolf (Canis lupus)
Wolf (Canis lupus)
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Wolf (Canis lupus)
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 (04-18-2020, 10:59 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: Wild World India-A Tibetan or Himalayan Wolf are considered to be a sub-species of the Grey Wolf... — at Ladakh, India.That's incorrect info they gave. Tibetan & Himalayan are different animals. Tibetan wolves are normal grey wolf subspecies, Himalayan ones may get redesignated.   *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Bison chasing a wolf in an unknown location (North America) Credits : Mosi Lager on Flickr  *This image is copyright of its original author Wolf with bison calf it caught, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
I found the picture on reddit (Photographer unknown)
Arctic Wolf (Canis lupus arctos) confronting an Musk Ox (Ovibos Moschatus)
Picture of Ronan Donovan !
The link below leads you to the instagram post and the picture !
Wolves of Lebanon
I love this video from one of my countries a surprisingly comfortable wolf in lebanon. Enjoy 
Wolf Hunt May Have Killed 97% of Pack in Alaska Archipelago
Conservationists say this season’s unfettered wolf hunt in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest may have left only five animals alive in the area.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author (CN) — Alaska is one of the last remnants of the wild in North America. It is home to a thriving population of wolves, with scientists estimating as many as 11,000 of the animals roam the vast untrammeled territory of Alaska and Northwestern Canada. But human-wolf conflicts also transpire in areas of Alaska and the U.S. Forest Service allows legal trapping of wolves in certain areas of the state’s extensive national forest system. On Wednesday, a coalition of wildlife advocacy organizations sent a letter to Tongass National Forest officials expressing concern that the latest legal trapping season in the Alexander Archipelago ended up eradicating 97% of the wolf population there. The Alexander Archipelago contains nearly 1,100 islands in a 300-mile span in the southeastern reach of Alaska. During the past trapping season, a record 165 wolves were killed within the management unit on the archipelago, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The most recent population estimates pegged the number of wolves in the area at 170, meaning only a handful of the animals likely remain, according to the conservationists. “This is a shocking number of wolves to have been taken, and once again there has to be concern for the viability of wolves on Prince of Wales Island,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska program director for Defenders of Wildlife. “The U.S. Forest Service must engage with the state on wolf management decisions to ensure that this imperiled wolf population and its forest habitat will remain healthy for future generations.” Prince of Wales Island is the largest island in the archipelago, which is characterized by temperate rain forests, pristine streams and rivers striating the various isles separated by deep fjords and channels. Whittington-Evans and other advocates fear the legal killings reported by the state fish and wildlife department do not reflect the full toll on the wolf population as illegal killings of the animals have also been significant in past years. “While wolf management has always been a controversial issue in Southeast Alaska, it simply belies common sense for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to allow legal trapping of 97% of any game population,” said Meredith Trainor, executive director for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. The advocates are particularly critical of the Forest Service’s decision to lift a quota on wolf trapping for the last season. They argue the wolf population had not recovered enough to allow limitless trapping of the animals in the region. In 2014, the population of wolves within the management unit dwindled to just 89 animals, down substantially from an estimated 336 animals in 1994. Since the record low in 2014, the Forest Service placed quotas on trapping with the hopes of boosting the number of wolves withing the management unit in the Alexander Archipelago. Along with quotas, the management plan required in-season monitoring of wolf mortality and required trappers to report wolf deaths within 14 days of the season’s end. That monitoring was suspended last year, and the reporting date was extended to 30 days after the trapping season concluded. “The unprecedented killing of these imperiled wolves is an appalling and completely predictable result of reckless mismanagement,” said Shaye Wolf, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. Wolf said that had the quota been in effect like previous years, the number of legal killings of wolves would have been 34. Historically, the quota was established at 20% of the wolf population and sometimes lower if the population appeared to be threatened. “It’s difficult to see how state and federal officials can allow hunting and trapping next season without completely wiping out these wolves,” Wolf said. “They have a duty to protect these beautiful animals from extinction.” A phone call to the U.S. Forest Service was not returned by press time. WOLF REPORTEDLY SPOTTED IN NORTHERN FRANCE FOR FIRST TIME IN OVER 100 YEARS
BY ROSIE MCCALL ON 4/20/20 AT 8:59 AM EDT
A large canine has been captured by an automatic camera in Normandy, northern France. Authorities believe the animal is a European gray wolf. If their suspicions are correct, it would be the FIRST wolf seen in this region of France for more than a century.
According to a local news report, the image of the lone canine was taken overnight on April 7-8 in Londinières—a village northeast of Normandy—on an infrared camera.
Authorities at the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) say it is likely a gray wolf (Canis lupus lupus), but caution additional information is needed to confirm the sighting.
"Given the quality of the images provided and considering that many breeds of dogs can have a size and coat colors similar to that of a wolf, this expertise should be considered with some reservation," the OFB, which was sent images of the suspected wolf on April 12, said in a press release.
"The photo was analyzed by several people experienced in the identification of the wolf and who concluded that there was a high probability," a spokesperson from the OFB told Newsweek. "However, it cannot 100 percent be said it is a wolf... Only DNA analysis on biological material would remove doubts."
 *This image is copyright of its original author What looks like a wolf approaches the camera. CÉLINE DAVID DESJARDINS  *This image is copyright of its original author This could be the first time a wild wolf has been spotted in Normandy for more than a century. CÉLINE DAVID DESJARDINS  *This image is copyright of its original author The snapshots were taken in Londinières, a village northeast of Normandy. CÉLINE DAVID DESJARDINS "This type of observation of an animal alone and far from the areas where the species is installed is
characteristic of individuals in the dispersal phase, a phenomenon which occurs twice
in the year, in the spring and in the fall," the OFB said in a press release. According to the OFB, young wolves leave their pack in search of a mate.
"These colonizing individuals can travel several hundreds of kilometers before settling," said the OFB. "This explains in particular certain isolated observations, far from known permanent presence zones, as in Seine-Maritime."
Historically, wolves were a common sight across much of Europe but human activity caused populations to plummet and in the twentieth century, the species became locally extinct in many regions they had been endemic. However, recent conservation efforts have helped revive Europe's wolves, with individuals reported in almost all countries on the European mainland. In 2015, a report published by the European Union, identified 10 separate populations spanning from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east. Spain and Italy have some of the healthiest populations in west and central Europe but most can be found in the Baltic states.
The presence of wolves in France was confirmed in 1992, when individuals were spotted roaming a national park in the Alps. According to the International Wolf Center, a research and educational organization, populations have expanded from Italy to Mercantour in south-east France and further northwards along the French Alpine chain.
In June 2019, the OFB reported the number of wolves had increased to an estimated 530 from an estimated 430 the previous year—making it likely the species has crossed a threshold of 500 individuals needed to ensure the sustainability of populations in the country.
"We now consider that the wolf is no longer a species at risk of extinction, which is a good thing in terms of biodiversity," Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume said at the time, according to thelocal.fr.
While conservationists at the OAB explained the increase in numbers was largely due to population growth in the Alpine region, they said it was important to note wolves' colonization of new regions, including areas as far north as the central massif and Aube-Yonne.
Earlier this year, a woman spotted a wolf in the department of Charente, western France, in what is thought to be the first seen in the area since 1926, Le Parisien reported at the time.
According to the International Wolf Center, there are now an estimated 13,000 wolves across Europe, excluding Russia.
The article has been updated with the original statement and additional comment from the French Office for Biodiversity. The article has been updated with screenshots of the suspected wolf. A previous version included a Facebook post.
Link : WOLF REPORTEDLY SPOTTED IN NORTHERN FRANCE FOR FIRST TIME IN OVER 100 YEARS BY ROSIE MCCALL ON 4/20/20 AT 8:59 AM EDT  *This image is copyright of its original author Figure 4. Flow diagram of predator–prey encounters for wolves and elk in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) since 1926. Modified from Lima and Dill (1990). From : Wolves and the Ecology of Fear: Can Predation Risk Structure Ecosystems ? WILLIAM J. RIPPLE AND ROBERT L. BESCHTA *Note* : I found that this figure represented the goal of the study to see how the behaviour of big herbivores like elks is modified by the absence/presence of natural predators.
We can observe and analysed that in the 70 years without wolves, elks "evolved" (more likely took this opportunity) to feed on any type of habitat without being predated. Therefore, they were seen [in the wolf absence period] in forests, mountains, plains, marshs .... everywhere.
They are big grazers. They eat a lot. A Coyote won't hunt elk. A bear will occasionnally take a calf or cow elk. Well it will take an elk opportunistically. Bears hibernate in winter. Elks continue to eat.
Food for others animal came short and some vanished from yellowstone in that time period.
However, with the wolf reintroduction, elks came back to their normal habitat and species that had vanished came back in the park.
Dietary spectrum in Himalayan wolves: comparative analysis of prey choice in conspecifics across high‐elevation rangelands of Asia
S. Balajeid Lyngdoh B. Habib S. Shrotriya
First published: 10 August 2019 doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12724
Abstract The Himalayan wolf (Canis lupus chanco) is one of the most basal among wolf lineages in the world today. It inhabits mostly the high elevations, northwards from the Himalayas (1500–5000 m) in the Asian region. We conducted a meta analysis to understand the dietary habits of Himalayan wolves and wolves of the high rangelands of Asia from seven countries (n = 22). We found 39 different prey items reported across the distribution of the Himalayan wolf from a total of 2331 scats (average of 105.95 ± 20.10 scats per study). Comparison of the relative frequency of occurrence of different prey species shows that domestic prey consumption (48.21 ± 5.61%) across the zones or continent was similar to wild prey consumption (42.94 ± 5.25%). Small wild prey species constituted approximately (24.53 ± 3.77%) of the total wolf diet. Wolves of the Asian Highlands consumed relatively more large prey (40.01 ± 5.42%) than small prey (25.19 ± 3.85%) or medium‐sized prey (23.17 ± 3.78%). Wolves consumed a larger proportion of domestic (54.92 ± 5.94%) than wild prey (36.13 ± 6.12%) in areas that had regular livestock grazing and vice versa. East, west and central Himalayan and Central Asian wolves consumed mostly large wild and domestic prey. On the contrary, wolves in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, Inner Mongolia and the Karakoram consumed a relatively higher proportion of smaller‐sized prey and livestock. Overall, wolves utilized mostly domestic livestock and marmots (Ivlev’s index, 0.22–0.77). High localized utilization of Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus przewalkskii, 0.94) was recorded, whereas Goral (N. goral) and Pika (Ochotona spp) were particularly underutilized (−0.99 and −0.92) in wolf diet. A landscape or trans‐boundary approach is advocated to restore natural large wild prey, for such a relic lineage species and reduce human‐wolf conflicts.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Figure 2 Dietary spectrum for collated data across 22 studies. Graphs indicate the percentage mean relative frequency of occurrence with a standard deviation of prey in wolf diet. Link : Dietary spectrum in Himalayan wolves: comparative analysis of prey choice in conspecifics across high‐elevation rangelands of Asia *Note* : The "T" (small bar over the blacks rectangles) represent the how there is variation in across the 22 studies. Exemple, the frequency of roe deer being is on average of the 22 studies [Black rectangle] but in some of these 22 studies, they occupied the "first place" or in other words, they are the primary prey of wolves in that (those) particular(s) study (ies). Wild Things: Wolf takes down elk near busy Castle Junction
Author of the article : Colette Derworiz • Calgary Herald
Publishing date : April 29, 2015 • 1 minute read
Quote: "It happens regularly in nature, but there’s not always eyewitnesses. On Saturday, a wolf pursued and killed an elk near the Castle junction — close to the bridge crossing on the road connecting the Trans-Canada Highway to the Bow Valley Parkway." “Nothing unusual about that, that happens,” noted Brianna Burley, a human/wildlife conflict specialist with Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay national parks. “We often see a lot of wolf and ungulate activity down in that part of the world. “Some people saw it, some staff from Castle Mountain Chalets witnessed it.” Wildlife officers were called to the area and moved the carcass under cover so that the wolves could feed on it without being disturbed. They also put a closure into effect in the area around Castle Junction. It includes the east shore of the Bow River for one kilometre upstream of the Castle River junction bridge. * Note * : I appreciate the actions of the wildlife officers. Let nature stay nature, not a photography session ! Link : Wild Things: Wolf takes down elk near busy Castle Junction Author of the article : Colette Derworiz • Calgary Herald Publishing date:April 29, 2015 • 1 minute read Cougar and wolf briefly share windfall feast
Tue., March 29, 2011 by Rich Landers
Quote: PREDATORS -- An Angus bull that died last month from injuries after fighting with another bull near Missoula attracted the who's who of non-hibernating predators into the unblinking lens of a motion-activated camera. Quote:A lone gray wolf spent just 18 minutes feeding on the carcass above Missoula's South Hills, apparently cowed by the fact that a mountain lion had already claimed the prize -- and often slept by its feast. The pictures from an automatic field camera show a radio-collared, 100-pound male wolf approaching the bull with its tail between its legs. The short visit was likely due to a mountain lion having already claimed the carcass, bull owner John Rimel said on Monday.
The 2,000-pound Angus bull died Jan. 28 after getting in a fight with another bull in the pasture. Although it appeared fine after the fight, it was found dead about 12 hours later. By then, the body had decomposed too much to be butchered, and it was too large to be taken to a rendering plant in Missoula.
So Rimel followed his customary practice of hauling the carcass up the mountain, far from the pasture.
"I was quite surprised we'd attracted a wolf," Rimel said. "In the past when we've disposed of them on the hill, it hasn't been a problem. We'll have to do something else with carcasses when we have them."
University of Montana biologist Kerry Foresman was working on a book about Rocky Mountain mammals with Rimel's publishing company, and asked to place two of his field cameras by the carcass. He, too, was not expecting to catch a wolf. The better bet was fishers, martens, mountain lions and possibly wolverines.
"I didn't even think there were wolves in the area," Foresman said. "John would be the last person who'd want to bait them in. He's calving there now."
The cameras were active for most of February. They were triggered by both heat and motion sensors, sensitive enough to pick up field mice moving by the bull carcass.
Quote:Of the 24,000 frames recorded, the wolf appears in about 20 on Feb. 22. The lion, on the other hand, often slept by the carcass and probably stayed nearby. Foresman said the wolf made two brief visits, grabbing a couple mouthfuls of meat while always watching uphill for the lion.
"When the wolf came in, the whole area had the reek of mountain lion," Foresman said.
Quote:"The wolf looks really nervous, tail down, constantly turning around checking its backside. A pack of wolves could handle a lion, but it's the other way around when it's just one wolf." Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Liz Bradley said the wolf was likely a lone disperser moving through the area. There is an active pack in the Welcome Creek area whose members have been reported in the Sapphire Mountains as far north as Miller Creek. But this wolf could also have moved east from Idaho, she said.
Source : Cougar and wolf briefly share windfall feast Tue., March 29, 2011 by Rich Landers Big Wolves and Ordinary Wolves
Wolf Weight Depends on When and What They Last Ate
By Tim Mowry Quote: If you’re looking for the biggest wolves in Alaska, head to the Fortymile country.
That’s where legendary Alaska wolf trapper and hunter Frank Glaser caught a 175-pound male [Full bellied... so 153 lbs] in the summer of 1939, the largest wolf ever documented in Alaska. Glaser trapped the wolf on the Seventymile River near Eagle.
“They run some big wolves in that country,” state wildlife biologist Craig Gardner, who spent 20 years working in the area while stationed at Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Tok, said.
While the wolf Glaser caught had a belly full of meat, Gardner captured a 140-pound male with an empty stomach in 1997 when the state was sterilizing wolves as part of a recovery plan for the Fortymile Caribou Herd. The wolf was the alpha male in a pack of 16 wolves.
“He was just enormous,” Gardner said.
Wildlife biologist John Burch of the National Park Service caught a 148-pound wolf [Full of meat] in 2001 near the Yukon Charley Rivers National Preserve. A female with him weighed 110, Burch said.
“They were on a moose kill,” Burch recalled. “He had a stomach full of meat and so did she.”
Burch has caught one other wolf over 140 pounds — a 143 pounder 10 years ago — and four that were over 130 pounds, including a 132 pounder last year.
“Any wolf over 140 I would classify as huge,” Burch said.
The average weight for an adult male wolf in Alaska is about 100 to 110 pounds while females average about 90 pounds. The biggest wolf in most packs almost always are the alpha males, biologists said.
“If you catch an alpha male out of a pack that weighs 120, that’s representative of a big, fully grown adult,” said biologist Mark McNay, who spent half of the 27 years he was at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game studying wolves before retiring in 2007.
During his career at Fish and Game, McNay captured and weighed more than 300 wolves. The biggest was a 143-pound male he caught in the Alaska Range in 2003. That wolf was the alpha male in a pack of 16 and was coming off a fresh kill, he said.
The biggest female McNay has ever caught was a 118-pound wolf in the late 1980s, which he captured in the same area as the 143-pound male in 2003. The alpha male in that pack weighed about 125 pounds.
“They were in exceptionally good territory that had lots of moose and caribou,” McNay said.
Quote: Most of the wolves in Alaska are what McNay referred to as “moose wolves” because they rely on moose for the bulk of their food in winter. Caribou are not as widely distributed as moose or as predictable in their movements as moose. Wolves also eat Dall sheep, a few birds, a few beaver; salmon, and other animals when available,” McNay said.
Based on several studies of wolf kill rates, a wolf consumes an average of about 5 to 15 pounds of food per day in winter. Wolves kill mostly calf moose. Yearlings are the next most favored age class. It is interesting that wolves rarely kill a moose between the ages of 2 and 7 years. Then moose become increasingly vulnerable until all female moose are dead by the age of about 18 years of age.
“The weights of wolves fluctuate greatly depending on food availability. Wolves can eat 20 pounds of moose or caribou in one meal if it’s available. Wolves “can pack away a lot,” McNay said.
“If I caught one that was 143 pounds and it hadn’t eaten for a couple days it could be the same size as a 170-pound wolf coming off a fresh kill,” he said.
Other biologists agreed wolves are extreme opportunists when it comes to food.
“You find that in stomachs pretty commonly — 20 pounds or more of meat, hairball and bone,” longtime Fairbanks biologist Rod Boertje said. “That’s how you get most of these 140-pound wolves.”
“If they have the opportunity to eat a lot they will,” Burch added.
While there was no mention of Glaser’s giant catch in a book chronicling his wilderness adventures titled “Alaska’s Wolf Man” by Jim Rearden, wolf researcher Stanley Young, who worked as a biologist for the U.S. Biological Survey, the predecessor to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, makes mention of it in the book he wrote in 1944, “The Wolves of North America.”
“A very large male collected by Frank S. Glaser, July 12, 1939, on 70-Mile River, approximately 50 miles from its mouth in extreme east central Alaska, weighed 175 pounds,” Young wrote. “It was the heaviest that has been taken by any of the personnel of the Fish and Wildlife Service.” The 140 pound wolf that Gardner weighed in 1997 came from the same area.
There also is mention of a 172-pound male with a stomach full of meat caught in the Northwest Territories in 1947 and a 157-pound wolf shot on the Savage River drainage in the Alaska Range in 1934.
[Again both were assumedly full and probably with meat in the stomach] Quote: The wolves Burch handles in the Yukon Charley Rivers National Preserve are bigger than the wolves he dealt with working in Denali National Park and Preserve for 10 years. According to his figures, males in the Yukon Charley run about 5 pounds bigger than Denali Park males and females are about 2 pounds larger.
Of the 179 wolves Burch has captured in and near the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve since 1993, the average weight for adult males is 111 pounds and for females it is 97. Boertje and Garder weighed 71 male wolves older than yearlings in the Fortymile herd’s range and the average weight was 106 pounds.
In Minnesota, where he worked with wolves for seven years, Burch said, “a wolf over 100 pounds was almost unheard of.”
Of the 300 or so wolves that biologist Layne Adams with the U.S. Geological Survey has handled working in Denali National Park and Preserve and Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, the biggest was a 135-pound male in Denali. Adams still remembers the size of the wolf as if it were some kind of mutant.
“The thing was huge to me, compared to what I normally handled,” Adams said, noting the average weight of male wolves in Denali is 105 pounds. “The first thing I noticed was the size of his head. It was huge.”
Most trappers don’t weigh the wolves they catch because they skin them in the field, said Al Barrette at Fairbanks Fur Tannery. Even if they did weigh them, chances are they would weigh less than those handled by biologists because they’ve been in a trap for several days, he said.
“When trappers catch wolves they’re on the move, looking for food, their bellies are empty,” said Barrette, a trapper himself. “It’s not too often you catch a wolf with a full stomach.”
Barrette weighs about 50 wolves per year that trappers bring him to skin and the biggest he has ever weighed is 128 pounds.
As for talk of 150-pound wolves, Barrette said, “I’d like to see one.”
Link : Big Wolves and Ordinary Wolves Wolf Weight Depends on When and What They Last Ate By Tim Mowry (Alaska Fish & Wildlife, March 2011) *From my forum* Recap of the last article and important note on the weights of wolves :
1. Glaser's 175 lbs (79.37 kg) was full of meat. 22 lbs (10 kg) is the maximum recorded amount of meat in a stomach. Therefore, this wolf estimation would be 153 lbs (69.40 kg)
Which would still be the biggest wolf ever recorded in North America ! 69.40 kg
2. Gardner's 140 lbs (63.50 kg) alpha male in 1997. Pack of 16 wolves.
3. Jon Burch's wolves at a fresh kill [meat in stomach] : 148 lbs (67.1 kg] male and 110 lbs female [49.89 kg]
“Any wolf over 140 I would classify as huge,” Burch said.
Of the 179 wolves Burch has captured in and near the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve since 1993 :
Average weight for adult males is 111 pounds [50.34 kg]
Average weight for females it is 97 lbs [44kg] .
4. Average for alaskan wolves according to the article sources : 100-110 lbs (45-50 kg) for males and 90 lbs (40.82 kg) for femalesé
5. Biologist Mark McNay studied wolves for 27 years in Alaska and weighed 300 wolves.
Biggest wolves he weighed [all had meat] : 143 lbs (64.87 kg) (male), 125 lbs (male), 118 lbs (Female)
Quote:“They were in exceptionally good territory that had lots of moose and caribou,” McNay said. Quote:“If I caught one that was 143 pounds and it hadn’t eaten for a couple days it could be the same size as a 170-pound wolf coming off a fresh kill,” he said. Other biologists agreed wolves are extreme opportunists when it comes to food.
Quote: 6. Boertje and Garder weighed 71 male wolves older than yearlings in the Fortymile herd’s range and the average weight was 106 pounds.
7. Of the 300 or so wolves that biologist Layne Adams with the U.S. Geological Survey has handled working in Denali National Park and Preserve and Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, the biggest was a 135-pound male in Denali.
Wolves have 21 different howling dialects
(Researchers cataloged wolf vocalizations to better identify who's howling — a move that could be critical to conservation.) Jaymi Heimbuch JAYMI HEIMBUCH
April 6, 2016, 9:24 a.m. *This image is copyright of its original author Wolf howls are complex but researchers are now unraveling their secrets. (Photo: Edwin Butter/Shutterstock) In the largest quantitative study of howling among canid species, researchers have discovered that wolves across the world speak in 21 different dialects, with differences depending both on species and location.
The study, led by Arik Kershenbaum of University of Cambridge, collected 2,000 recordings of howls from 13 species of canids including wolves around the world, dingoes, coyotes, jackals and even domestic dogs.
Rather than using subjective analysis of howls by looking at sound waves, the researchers put the howls through a computer algorithm that quantified aspects of the recordings. The computer identified the distinguishing features of the howls, including pitch and fluctuation.
A listener can ultimately identify the species of howler, even down to the subspecies of wolf, just by listening closely to their unique howling.
Kershenbaum explains the approach in a Life on Earth interview:
The way that we quantified [howls] was to extract the frequencies of the howls as the howl progresses — whether the frequency rises, falls, stays constant. And then we could compare every set of howls that we recorded, and that essentially gives a number to how different two frequency modulated turns are. And we then passed that to another algorithm which clusters these howls into groups that are similar to each other and different from every other howl. So once we had established the twenty-one different howl types, we looked at the way those howl types were used by different populations. So some species and subspecies would make a lot of use of certain howl types and would neglect others. In addition, some species make wide use of all of the different howl types and are very varied in their repertoire. And in that sense they represent, if you like, a fingerprint for each population, for each subspecies.
With this information, researchers are one step closer to being able to identify exactly which subspecies of wolf may be howling — something that could significantly benefit scientists monitoring local wolf populations. Scientists could identify wolves in the area and track their activity using acoustics.
The next step is to determine the meaning behind different howls. Such information could be crucial in keeping wolves away from livestock and reduce conflict.
“If we can use these kinds of techniques to identify different howls in different behavioral contexts, then we may be able to use the howling to develop techniques for reducing conflict between wild predators and humans, by playing back the appropriate howls,” Kershenbaum told Life on Earth. “But in this case it would be extremely important to make sure that you play back a howl that says, 'don’t come near here, we’re a strong and aggressive pack,' and not a howl that says, 'come over here, we’ve found some interesting food and we’re going to eat it.'”
Such understanding is possible only when studying vocalizations in context with wild wolves. The team is currently working in Yellowstone National Park to collect recordings and learn more about whether different calls are intended as communication, warning or other messages.
The discovery about dialects could be important for the survival of the critically endangered red wolf.
"The survival of red wolves in the wild is threatened by interbreeding with coyotes, and we found that the howling behavior of the two species is very similar. This may be one reason why they are so likely to mate with each other, and perhaps we can take advantage of the subtle differences in howling behavior we have now discovered to keep the populations apart," notes Kershenbaum in a news release.
The findings are compelling for both wolves and people. Learning more about the language of wolves may reveal clues about the evolution of our own language, something Kershenbaum is interested in exploring further.
"Wolves may not be close to us taxonomically, but ecologically their behavior in a social structure is remarkably close to that of humans. That's why we domesticated dogs — they are very similar to us," said Kershenbaum. "Understanding the communication of existing social species is essential to uncovering the evolutionary trajectories that led to more complex communication in the past, eventually leading to our own linguistic ability."
Link : Wolves have 21 different howling dialects Published on Mar 4, 2016 While the Lamar Canyon pack (5 wolves) attempted to hunt a bison calf one of the adult males, Dark Black, or 992M now that he is collared, was scooped up by a bison cow's horn. The wolf was then somersaulted, with his legs and tail well above the bison's head, and then thrown to the ground where he skidded several feet before jumping up and resuming the hunt. [992M] is also known as "Twin" and was the Alpha Male of Lamar Canyon Pack in 2017 with famous "06 Female's" daughter : 926F (Spitfire) Wolf pack hunts elk above Canadian highway – and that's actually a good thing
BY SARAH KEARTES MARCH 24 2016
Unseen by droves of distracted commuters, a tense drama unfolded above the Trans-Canada Highway in Alberta. But wildlife photographer Christopher Martin saw the signs. First, an elk behaving erratically on the overpass. Then, a second shape. The wolves of Banff National Park were on the hunt – and they were closing in on their prize.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-page-2016-3-23
Wolves close in on their prize. Image: Christopher Martin
Over the next few minutes, Martin witnessed a truly hair-raising spectacle. Clouds of warm breath surrounded the animals, echoing the lengthy chase that led them here. "The elk took a couple of paces, doubled back and then repeated that a couple of times," he recalls. "It seemed unusual behaviour so I trained my telephoto lens on her to have a better look. When I did, I couldn’t make out anything unusual – until a wolf’s head came into view when it leapt up and bit the elk’s neck!"
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-2-2016-3-23
The elk's behaviour seemed unusual so Martin trained his telephoto lens on her to get a better look. Image: Christopher Martin
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-1-2016-3-23
"A wolf’s head came into view when it leapt up and bit the elk’s neck!" Image: Christopher Martin
The wolves continued to circle the tiring elk, alternating between attack and reposition. "When the elk would get closer to one of the ends of the bridge, the wolves would line up along the edge and force her back towards the middle. During the struggle, she was pulled down twice and recovered her legs before being taken down for good by the alpha in a twisting move of immense power."
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-3-2016-3-23
"When the elk would get closer to one of the ends of the bridge, the wolves would line up along the edge and force her back towards the middle" Image: Christopher Martin
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-4-2016-3-23
The wolves continued to circle the tiring elk. Image: Christopher Martin
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-5-2016-3-23
Almost over. Image: Christopher Martin
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-6-2016-3-23
"During the struggle, she was pulled down twice and recovered her legs before being taken down for good by the alpha in a twisting move of immense power." Image: Christopher Martin
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-7-2016-3-23
The final blow. Image: Christopher Martin
While it's never easy to see an animal killed, this hunt was a success in more ways than one. Despite their unfortunate reputation, wolves (and other top predators) play an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. And in Banff, their recovery has been key to keeping elk numbers under control.
"High elk concentrations in Banff over the last 15 years have resulted in serious ecological impacts," explain Parks Canada, who work to monitor grazer numbers in the area. "We've seen vegetation degradation, upsets in predator-prey relationships, and growing public safety concerns."
Wolves in Western Canada were all but wiped out by the 1950s, driven to the brink by flawed hunting policies. With human encroachment, the canids suddenly found themselves living in a landscape overrun with livestock. And despite early warnings that removing the predators would have unwanted consequences, the public's negative perception ensured the wolves' demise.
It took nearly thirty years for the carnivores to return to Alberta's mountains – and today, wildlife officials are determined to keep them around for good. For Martin, an encounter with healthy wolves is always a moving experience.
"Watching this [hunt] was a window into survival in nature and I came away in awe of the victors and their tenacity, intelligence and cooperation," he says. "A shadow of sadness for the elk was a part of this story and I gave thanks for what that life lost meant to this pack."
Leading wolf expert Dr Paul Paquet, who has studied these carnivores in Banff National Park, suspects a kill like this one can sustain the pack for up to 12 days.
You'll notice that the wolves in the photos are wearing radio collars. The 82-kilometre Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park is spanned by more wildlife crossings for its length than any other highway in the world, and these collars allow the Parks Canada team to understand how, if and when the wolf pack uses the passes.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-8-2016-3-23
The 82-kilometre Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park is spanned by more wildlife crossings for its length than any other highway in the world, so tracking the wolves' movements is vital. Image: Christopher Martin
After authorities were alerted to the showdown playing out on the railway crossing, all incoming trains were slowed to allow the predators ample time with their spoils. "When the elk was down, the pack wasted no time in starting their feast," says Martin. "They had about 45 minutes before the carcass was removed, which gave the whole pack time to get at least one full meal down."
The Banff wolves' future looks bright for now, but packs elsewhere aren't as lucky. In British Columbia, growing conflict with endangered woodland caribou has led to plans for controversial wolf culls, which experts have criticised. Suzanne Asha Stone, who has worked on wolf restoration for over 20 years, says such strategies ignore the root causes of caribou decline: poaching, habitat loss and poorly managed hunting.
Here in Alberta, a 2015 study found that while wolf hunts do help stabilise caribou numbers, they do not result in population growth. The researches found that without long-term habitat restoration, a process that can requite decades of work, removing wolves would have no have a lasting impact on the endangered hoofstock.
Perceived threats to people and their livestock remain the greatest challenges to wolf conservation. But despite the hype, wolf kills account for just one percent of total livestock losses to wild predators, and over the past 15 years, just two people have been killed by wolves in all of North America.
Even the smallest of changes to management techniques can have a lasting impact on the peaceful coexistence of wolves and local farmers – and that's something Stone and the team at Defenders of Wildlife devote their time to. By working with local farmers, rather than against them, they have managed to keep livestock losses down in some of the most densely farmed regions of the continent.
"When developing a strategy for reducing risk to your livestock, it helps to understand things from a wolf’s perspective," they write. "Wolves are natural hunters, but they are also opportunistic scavengers. Working side by side with ranchers and local officials, our field staff has implemented non-lethal management practices that allow wolves and livestock to coexist side by side.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Wolves-11-2016-3-23
A kill like this one can sustain the pack for up to 12 days. Image: Christopher Martin
Top header image: Christopher Martin Photography
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