Limits to Plasticity in Gray Wolf, Canis lupus, Pack Structure: Conservation Implications for Recovering Populations

We documented the dynamics of the Five Corners Pack (FCP) in east-central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin through the loss and replacement of four alpha-females over a four-year period. This pack remained intact and produced offspring during the period despite the annual loss of the alpha femal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Canadian Field-Naturalist
Main Authors: Gehring, Thomas M., Kohn, Bruce E., Gehring, Joelle L., Anderson, Eric M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club 2003
Subjects:
Gray Wolf
Canis lupus
disease
edge effects
behavior
mortality
radio telemetry
recovering populations
social structure
Minnesota
Wisconsin
gray wolf
Online Access:https://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/744
https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v117i3.744
Description
Summary:We documented the dynamics of the Five Corners Pack (FCP) in east-central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin through the loss and replacement of four alpha-females over a four-year period. This pack remained intact and produced offspring during the period despite the annual loss of the alpha female. However, we observed a disintegration of the pack after four consecutive alpha females died, at least two of which were due to illegal killing by humans. Our observations generally support the hypothesis that “single-parent” wolf packs may be more prevalent in areas with low densities of wolves and high densities of ungulate prey. Our observations also highlight the need to assess the potential negative impacts of wolf removal on pack structure and persistence at local and regional scales.

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