Movements and Home Sites of Timber Wolves in Algonquin Park
Ecological studies of timber wolves ( Canis lupus ) in a forested environment have always been difficult to undertake in the past, particularly during the summer months, because of the lack of a suitable technique. In 1960 Pimlott devised a technique which employed the use of broadcast wolf howls in...
| Published in: | American Zoologist |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
1967
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| Online Access: | http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/7/2/279 https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/7.2.279 |
| Summary: | Ecological studies of timber wolves ( Canis lupus ) in a forested environment have always been difficult to undertake in the past, particularly during the summer months, because of the lack of a suitable technique. In 1960 Pimlott devised a technique which employed the use of broadcast wolf howls in locating wolves in the field. This report reviews the success of this technique in studying the movements of two packs of wolves, and their use of home sites in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Wolves responded by howling a total of 476 occasions or approximately 13% of the occasions that broadcast howls were given. Human imitations were more successful than tape-recordings in inducing responses. Wolves responded at any time of day, but dusk was the most favorable period. They also responded more frequently in July and August than in May and June. Two types of home sites were found: the den site, occupied during the early life of the pups, and the rendezvous site, a place occupied by wolves during later development of pups. All of he home sites were adjacent to some immediate source of water. The movement of wolves appeared also to be concentrated along the water courses. The locations of the home sites and the evidence obtained from howling responses, tracks, and scats suggested that the summer range comprised a minimum area of eight square miles. The same range was utilized by a pack in 1961 and 1963. |
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