Current Projects
Last Update/Review: 1997
Northeastern Alberta
A study of wolf predation on woodland caribou and moose was initiated in 1994 in two adjacent areas of the mixed wood boreal forest within the Alberta Pacific Forest Management Area. Populations of woodland caribou may decline where the biomass of moose allows wolves to increase or be maintained at high levels. A current hypothesis for the long-term viability of woodland caribou is that they must minimize predation by occupying habitats away from wolves. The two sites selected for study are Pelican (large peatland, 250 caribou in Wabasca herd) and House River (small peatland, 30 caribou in Agnes herd, surrounded by high-quality moose habitat). This project is coordinated by the Northeast Standing Committee on Woodland Caribou and the University of Alberta's department of Biological Sciences.
Wolves for Yellowstone and Idaho
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan (1987) recommended the establishment of a minimum of 10 breeding pairs of wolves in each of three recovery areas in the northwestern states. In August 1994, the USFWS requested that Alberta provide about 15 wolves each year for three to five years. During November and December 1994, registered trappers, and the USFWS and Alberta Environmental Protection live-captured and radio-collared 17 wolves in west-central Alberta to identify wolf packs for the project. In January 1995, wolves were captured by aerial darting and trapping; 29 were airlifted to two recovery areas. Alberta will continue to assist in USA wolf recovery if survival of donated wolves is satisfactory.
Southeastern Alberta
Wolves were uncommon in extreme southwestern Alberta (Chain Lakes south to the international border) for most of this century. Forty to 50 wolves again occupied this area during the early 1990s. In 1994, at least 24 cattle were killed or mauled by wolves in the area. Concerned ranchers, conservationists and governments (national park and provincial) organized cooperative wolf research and management projects, which included a wolf sighting registry, fund-raising to compensate for wolf kills of livestock, and radio-telemetric monitoring. In Banff National Park and adjacent areas, Carolyn Callaghan of the University of Guelph is developing a GIS-based habitat suitability model for wolves in mountainous terrain.
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DNA Studies
Diane Boyd of the University of Montana is conducting genetic analyses of the wolves that occur between central Alberta and Montana. Her DNA studies will help identify the origin and relatedness of recolonizing wolves. For example, if these new populations descended from a small number of wolves, they could be susceptible to disease and genetic disorders. On the other hand, if from diverse ancestors, wolves currently repopulating southern Alberta and the northern USA should be healthy and more likely to persist.
The Future of the Wolf in Alberta
