![]() The female was released on Isle Royale last Tuesday, while her pack mate was set loose a day later. The elite Canadian crew includes a female and male from a pack based on the mainland near Wawa, Ontario, and two males from Michipicoten Island Provincial Park. All of them are collared so that researchers can track their movements. They were also deliberately selected to be over two or three years old, when wolves become sexually mature enough to breed, but not too old, so that they have a shot of surviving multiple breeding seasons. The animals were sedated and examined by veterinarians before and after their helicopter trip to ensure they were healthy enough for release. The newcomers were captured by OMNRF teams that fired net guns from aircraft. As a result, mainland wolves aren’t mixing with the Isle Royale population as much, resulting in population loss and inbreeding. Ice bridges that historically connected the archipelago to the mainland have been receding in recent winters. But the predators have become more isolated over time in part because of climate change. Just a decade ago, there were 24 wolves in the pack. The Isle Royale wolf population has experienced dramatic booms and busts since scientists first started studying it in 1958. The new total population of eight wolves is equally split between males and females. Two of those wolves are the last surviving descendents of the island’s original pack, while the other pair were captured in Minnesota and introduced to the park in 2018. In nature there is a place for both predator and prey and, although their relative numbers fluctuate, predator and prey can maintain the equilibrium necessary for the survival of both if given the opportunity to do so naturally.The Canadian quartet joins an existing group of four wolves in the park. In the Arctic, wolves often follow their main prey, caribou, as the caribou migrate, often thousands of miles. Scientists have estimated that one wolf needs at least ten square miles for a “home” territory. Wolves must travel many miles in order to find suitable prey. ![]() If wolves do not finish what they have killed, the leftovers will feed the scavengers – fox, coyote and raven. ![]() Wolves are built for a feast or famine diet and can “wolf” down up to 20 pounds at one feeding. One study shows that for every twelve moose tracked, only one was caught. ![]() As hunters, wolves have a low success rate. The antlers and the hooves of a large animal like a moose or a caribou can injure or kill an attacking wolf. While some pack members approach the prey from the rear, other wolves seize the prey by the nose. Wolves usually bite the shoulders and flanks. When hunting large game, the wolf pack separates out and surrounds its prey. Wolves will also eat smaller animals like beaver, rabbit, mice and ground squirrel. Large ungulates like deer, moose, elk and caribou are a wolf’s primary food source. Wolves chase and test their prey, looking for the animals they can kill while expending as little energy as possible and decreasing chances of injury. Wolves use their incredible sense of smell combined with excellent hearing abilities to help them find prey. Each predator has its own tools and hunting strategies. Almost every time they are hungry, wolves must find and bring down prey. Other competing predators would be cougar, coyote, bear and humans.Ī predator’s life is not an easy one. The end result is a healthy natural relationship between predator and prey which has succeeded for hundreds of thousands of years.Īs predators, they serve to help keep the ecosystem in balance by hunting primarily on prey that is weak, sick or elderly, leaving stronger and healthier animals to survive and produce viable young. Hunting in this manner helps to improve the overall health of their prey population by removing the disadvantaged, thereby allowing the healthiest animals to create future generations (wolves also take down healthy adults that are often at some disadvantage, such as a moose on ice). Wolves will chase and test their prey looking for weakness. Wolves are called apex predators, which means that they are at the top of the food chain. Wolves are extraordinary predators that play an extremely important part in a healthy, thriving ecosystem.
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