Evidence for the Historical Occurrence of Wolves (Canis spp.) in Nova Scotia, Canada

Although once common across the entire North American continent, wolves (Canis spp.) have been extirpated from most of their former territory. The historical occurrence and persistence of wolves in Nova Scotia has been a subject of debate because of comments on the wolf’s rarity in early settler acc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Canadian Field-Naturalist
Main Authors: Whitaker, Andrei N., Beazley, Karen F.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club 2017
Subjects:
Historical distribution
wolves
Canis lycaon
Canis lupus
anecdotal evidence
Maritime Provinces
Canada
Mi’kmaw
Online Access:https://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/1775
https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v131i1.1775
Description
Summary:Although once common across the entire North American continent, wolves (Canis spp.) have been extirpated from most of their former territory. The historical occurrence and persistence of wolves in Nova Scotia has been a subject of debate because of comments on the wolf’s rarity in early settler accounts and the absence of physical specimens. By consulting historical documents of European settlers, the Mi’kmaw lexicon, and fur trade records, we found evidence for the presence of a wolf population in Nova Scotia (which included the territory of New Brunswick before 1784) at European contact and persisting until the early 20th century.

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