Thesis (M.Sc.)--Acadia University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-169). Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

The food habits and social organization of Vancouver Island wolves (Canis lupus crassodon Hall) inhabiting an area on Northeastern Vancouver Island were studied from January, 1977 through January, 1979. During this period, two adjacent packs were studied in detail between March and November, 1978. Three members of the Upper Adam pack, an adult male, adult female and yearling female, were captured, fitted with radio-transmitters and subsequently radio-tracked for five months (April to August, 1978). The same procedures were carried out on the adult male and female of the Lower Adam pack, who were radio-tracked for eight and five months respectively (April to November; April to August). A lone male was captured and tracked for eight months (November, 1978 to June, 1979). Black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) were the major prey in the diet of both packs, while Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) and beaver (Castor canadensis leucodontus) were utilized as secondary food sources. Seasonal variation in the diet of the wolves was apparent, with deer fawns and elk calves constituting the bulk of the summer (June 1 to August 31) diet. Beaver were taken primarily during the winter months. Individual packs showed different foraging patterns. The lower pack depended less upon adult elk during the winter and more upon ungulate young during the summer, while the Upper pack utilized relatively more adult elk during the winter with more emphasis on adult deer as opposed to ungulate young during the summer. The Upper pack consisted of ten individuals, two adult males, one adult female, one yearling femaling, two unknown, and four pups. The radio-collared members inhabited a 64 km2 home range. Wolf density within their home range was one per 6.4 km2. The Lower pack consisted of five individuals including one adult male, one adult female, and three pups which ranged throughout a 75 km2 area. Density within this area was one wolf per 15 km2. Den sites were situated within pristine coniferous timber where hollow logs, tree bases and root systems were utilized for denning purposes. Both packs occupied densites from late April until mid-July. During the post-denning period rendezvous sites were frequented, situated in open meadows bordering on timber stands or river side areas. Both types of sites were generally typified by a water source nearby, structural suitability giving a view of the surrounding area, activity and resting areas, and several well used trails. Seasonal shifts in the use of core areas of home ranges were apparent for both packs, and den and rendezous sites were spatio-temporally distributed at significant distances from adjacent pack sites. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2000. / Restricted until November 2001. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Previous studies of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) using microsatellites have showed strong population structure despite the high mobility of individuals. I re-assessed the structure of North American grey wolves by genotyping 132 wolves at a genome-wide set of >26 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and found less population structure, a strong pattern of isolation by distance, and determined that gene flow between subpopulations relates to prey specialization. To assess how accurately smaller data sets assign individuals, I analyzed sub-sets of SNPs and found that small marker sets varied greatly in estimates of subpopulation assignment, and showed high discordance with assignments determined when using all 26k markers. Finally, using a genome scan to detect natural selection I identified SNPs in three genes that may have undergone directional selection, contain variation with observed phenotypic consequences in other mammal species and may be related to adaptation in grey wolves. / Systematics and Evolution

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2007. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Oct. 7, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-64).

Thesis (M.A. in sociology)--Washington State University, May 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 27, 2009). "Department of Sociology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-70).

This ethnographically based study examines Swedish hunters' claims to victimhood through appeal to the term 'persecution'. Perceiving disenfranchisement, injustice and discrimination on the basis of wolf conservation policy, we present hunters' self-styled predicament as victimhood-claimants of persecution at the hands of a state that has been co-opted by a conservationist, pro-wolf agenda that systematically disenfranchises rural and hunting interests and lifestyles. Through the phenomenological accounts of hunter respondents, our paper takes seriously the hunters' perception of persecution and, likewise, considers the opposite case made by conservationists: that wolves have been, and continue to be, the real victims of persecution in the conflict. Nonetheless, we show that the persecution language as it is applied from opposing parties in the conflict is problematic inasmuch as it is focused around creating a moral panic and confusion among the Swedish public who are ultimately responsible, as a democratic body-politic, for assessing the legitimacy of claims to moral wrong-doing and legal redress for the wronged. Our case study joins scholarship that explores the pathologies of claims to victimization by populist rural interest groups in the context of controversial conservation directives.

Dire wolves are considered to be one of the most common and widespread large carnivores in Pleistocene America1, yet relatively little is known about their evolution or extinction. Here, to reconstruct the evolutionary history of dire wolves, we sequenced five genomes from sub-fossil remains dating from 13,000 to more than 50,000 years ago. Our results indicate that although they were similar morphologically to the extant grey wolf, dire wolves were a highly divergent lineage that split from living canids around 5.7 million years ago. In contrast to numerous examples of hybridization across Canidae2,3, there is no evidence for gene flow between dire wolves and either North American grey wolves or coyotes. This suggests that dire wolves evolved in isolation from the Pleistocene ancestors of these species. Our results also support an early New World origin of dire wolves, while the ancestors of grey wolves, coyotes and dholes evolved in Eurasia and colonized North America only relatively recently.

Although cooperative behavior is generally acknowledged to occur among wolves, there is a lack of systematically collected data confirming the extent of development. The objectives of this study were to collect long-term, detailed observations documenting the role of social structure, seasonal influences, and individual participation in wolf pack cooperative activities. Individual cooperative strategies were associated with age, sex, and social positions and critically compared with results of similar studies. Emphasis was placed on quantifying group and dyadic relationships, focusing on reproductive strategies and dominance structure. Additional data were collected on denning behavior, maternal care behavior, scent marking, and spontaneous individual and group howling.