Winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd

We studied wolf (Canis lupus) predation on elk (Cervus elaphus) in Yellowstone National Park from 17 March to 15 April 1997 (server winter conditions) and from 2 to 31 March 1998 (mild winter conditions) 2-3 year after wolves were reintroduced to the park. Elk composed 91% of 117 kills. Data compari...

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Main Authors: Mech, L. D., Smith, D. W., Murphy, K. M., MacNulty, Daniel R.
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: Hosted by Utah State University Libraries 2001
Subjects:
winter
wolf
wolf predation
elk
wolf-free
Canis lupus
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/wild_facpub/1468
id ftutahsudc:oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:wild_facpub-2468
record_format openpolar
spelling ftutahsudc:oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:wild_facpub-2468 2023-05-15T15:50:09+02:00 Winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd Mech, L. D. Smith, D. W. Murphy, K. M. MacNulty, Daniel R. 2001-01-01T08:00:00Z https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/wild_facpub/1468 unknown Hosted by Utah State University Libraries https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/wild_facpub/1468 Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact the Institutional Repository Librarian at digitalcommons@usu.edu. PDM Wildland Resources Faculty Publications winter wolf wolf predation elk wolf-free text 2001 ftutahsudc 2022-10-27T17:21:09Z We studied wolf (Canis lupus) predation on elk (Cervus elaphus) in Yellowstone National Park from 17 March to 15 April 1997 (server winter conditions) and from 2 to 31 March 1998 (mild winter conditions) 2-3 year after wolves were reintroduced to the park. Elk composed 91% of 117 kills. Data comparisons for 1997 versus 1998 were: hunting success rate, 26% versus 15%; kill rate, 17.1 kg/wolf/day versus 6.1; percent of kill consumed in first day, 7 versus 86; percent femur marrow fat of adult kills, 27 versus 70; calf:adult ratios of kills, 2:33 versus 17:23; sex ratio of kills, 14M:19F versus 17M:6F; mean age of elk killed, males 6.1 years, females 15.2 versus males, 4.8, females 13.0. Winter severity influenced the wolf-elk relationship more than the naivete of the elk herd to predation by wolves. Text Canis lupus Utah State University: DigitalCommons@USU
institution Open Polar
collection Utah State University: DigitalCommons@USU
op_collection_id ftutahsudc
language unknown
topic winter
wolf
wolf predation
elk
wolf-free
spellingShingle winter
wolf
wolf predation
elk
wolf-free
Mech, L. D.
Smith, D. W.
Murphy, K. M.
MacNulty, Daniel R.
Winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd
topic_facet winter
wolf
wolf predation
elk
wolf-free
description We studied wolf (Canis lupus) predation on elk (Cervus elaphus) in Yellowstone National Park from 17 March to 15 April 1997 (server winter conditions) and from 2 to 31 March 1998 (mild winter conditions) 2-3 year after wolves were reintroduced to the park. Elk composed 91% of 117 kills. Data comparisons for 1997 versus 1998 were: hunting success rate, 26% versus 15%; kill rate, 17.1 kg/wolf/day versus 6.1; percent of kill consumed in first day, 7 versus 86; percent femur marrow fat of adult kills, 27 versus 70; calf:adult ratios of kills, 2:33 versus 17:23; sex ratio of kills, 14M:19F versus 17M:6F; mean age of elk killed, males 6.1 years, females 15.2 versus males, 4.8, females 13.0. Winter severity influenced the wolf-elk relationship more than the naivete of the elk herd to predation by wolves.
format Text
author Mech, L. D.
Smith, D. W.
Murphy, K. M.
MacNulty, Daniel R.
author_facet Mech, L. D.
Smith, D. W.
Murphy, K. M.
MacNulty, Daniel R.
author_sort Mech, L. D.
title Winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd
title_short Winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd
title_full Winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd
title_fullStr Winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd
title_full_unstemmed Winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd
title_sort winter severity and wolf predation on a formerly wolf-free elk herd
publisher Hosted by Utah State University Libraries
publishDate 2001
url https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/wild_facpub/1468
genre Canis lupus
genre_facet Canis lupus
op_source Wildland Resources Faculty Publications
op_relation https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/wild_facpub/1468
op_rights Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact the Institutional Repository Librarian at digitalcommons@usu.edu.
op_rightsnorm PDM
_version_ 1766385139994066944

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