Sudden death of an Arctic wolf population in Greenland
This study reports the disappearance of a small Arctic wolf population in north-east Greenland founded in 1979 and provides the first long-term information on the wolf packs of this region. Data sources comprised specialized wolf surveys in two of three distributional core areas during three summers...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5493 https://doaj.org/article/9d64ccb2d5544a1d8b75d4f005a3bc14 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:9d64ccb2d5544a1d8b75d4f005a3bc14 2023-05-15T14:57:47+02:00 Sudden death of an Arctic wolf population in Greenland Ulf Marquard-Petersen 2021-03-01 https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5493 https://doaj.org/article/9d64ccb2d5544a1d8b75d4f005a3bc14 en eng Norwegian Polar Institute 0800-0395 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v40.5493 https://doaj.org/article/9d64ccb2d5544a1d8b75d4f005a3bc14 undefined Polar Research, Vol 40, Iss 0, Pp 1-10 (2021) canis lupus arctos conservation crash disappearance management wolves geo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2021 fttriple https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5493 2023-01-22T19:28:53Z This study reports the disappearance of a small Arctic wolf population in north-east Greenland founded in 1979 and provides the first long-term information on the wolf packs of this region. Data sources comprised specialized wolf surveys in two of three distributional core areas during three summers, 2012–14, and incidental sightings of wolves by military ground patrols during winter and by others year-round. The resulting time series spans 40 years (1979–2018). After gradually increasing for 14 years, the sighting rate peaked in 1996 and then declined to zero after May 2002, suggesting that the population went extinct. The crash occurred despite year-round legal protection in a national park and resulted in a 51.2% reduction in the extent of the occupied wolf range in Greenland and a 41.8% reduction in Greenland’s wolf population size. It was outside the scope of this study to conduct a complete analysis of all potential factors in the disappearance. In north Greenland, a small population of up to 32 wolves during optimal years continues to exist, and dispersers reach north-east Greenland occasionally. A number of measures are proposed that, if implemented by the Greenland Home Rule Government, would help secure the future of the few remaining wolves on the island. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Canis lupus East Greenland Greenland North Greenland Polar Research Unknown Arctic Greenland Polar Research 40 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
canis lupus arctos conservation crash disappearance management wolves geo envir |
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canis lupus arctos conservation crash disappearance management wolves geo envir Ulf Marquard-Petersen Sudden death of an Arctic wolf population in Greenland |
topic_facet |
canis lupus arctos conservation crash disappearance management wolves geo envir |
description |
This study reports the disappearance of a small Arctic wolf population in north-east Greenland founded in 1979 and provides the first long-term information on the wolf packs of this region. Data sources comprised specialized wolf surveys in two of three distributional core areas during three summers, 2012–14, and incidental sightings of wolves by military ground patrols during winter and by others year-round. The resulting time series spans 40 years (1979–2018). After gradually increasing for 14 years, the sighting rate peaked in 1996 and then declined to zero after May 2002, suggesting that the population went extinct. The crash occurred despite year-round legal protection in a national park and resulted in a 51.2% reduction in the extent of the occupied wolf range in Greenland and a 41.8% reduction in Greenland’s wolf population size. It was outside the scope of this study to conduct a complete analysis of all potential factors in the disappearance. In north Greenland, a small population of up to 32 wolves during optimal years continues to exist, and dispersers reach north-east Greenland occasionally. A number of measures are proposed that, if implemented by the Greenland Home Rule Government, would help secure the future of the few remaining wolves on the island. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ulf Marquard-Petersen |
author_facet |
Ulf Marquard-Petersen |
author_sort |
Ulf Marquard-Petersen |
title |
Sudden death of an Arctic wolf population in Greenland |
title_short |
Sudden death of an Arctic wolf population in Greenland |
title_full |
Sudden death of an Arctic wolf population in Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Sudden death of an Arctic wolf population in Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sudden death of an Arctic wolf population in Greenland |
title_sort |
sudden death of an arctic wolf population in greenland |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5493 https://doaj.org/article/9d64ccb2d5544a1d8b75d4f005a3bc14 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Canis lupus East Greenland Greenland North Greenland Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Arctic Canis lupus East Greenland Greenland North Greenland Polar Research |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 40, Iss 0, Pp 1-10 (2021) |
op_relation |
0800-0395 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v40.5493 https://doaj.org/article/9d64ccb2d5544a1d8b75d4f005a3bc14 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v40.5493 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
40 |
_version_ |
1766329904123609088 |