The results of a two-decade long study of wolf populations in Alaska’s Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve have yielded new insights into how species management programs in adjacent areas affect protected wolf populations.
National Park Service researchers monitored wolf population dynamics for 22 years (1993–2014) in order to assess how two large-scale wolf control programs, which had the primary goal of increasing the size of the Fortymile caribou herd, affected a wolf population located within the adjacent protected area of Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. The study is one of only four in North America conducted for this length of time.
The study found that during periods when wolf control programs were implemented, wolf survival rates in the national preserve were lower than usual even though the preserve encompasses 2.7 million acres and wolf control activities are prohibited in the preserve (and on other lands managed by the National Park Service). Other measures of population dynamics (dispersal, births and deaths) are also substantially different during years of wolf control.
Monitoring Wolves in Central Alaska
Both Denali National Park and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve have the longest-running wolf monitoring programs in the world.
Learn more about wolves in Alaska
Showing results 1-10 of 20
- Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve, Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
- Offices: Central Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
Read the abstract and get the link to a study that looks at social behavior among canids worldwide: Benson, J., D. Keiter, P. Mahoney, B. Allen, L. Allen, B. L. Borg,… K. Joly, … M. Sorum, et al. 2024. Intrinsic and environmental drivers of pairwise cohesion in wild Canis social groups. Ecology: e4492.
- Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve
- Offices: Central Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network
Read a summary and get a link to a published paper on how caribou and wolves respond to severe winter storms and how diverse landscape features provided some protection: Prugh, L. R., J. D. Lundquist, B. K. Sullender, C. X. Cunningham, J. Dechow, B. L. Borg, P. J. Sousanes, S. Stehn, and M. T. Furand. 2024. Landscape heterogeneity buffers the impact of an extreme weather event on wildlife. Communications Biology 7(1515).
- Denali National Park & Preserve
What determines the likelihood of seeing wolves in Denali?
- Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve
Read a summary and link to a paper that describes the factors related to wolf sightings in Denali: Borg, B. L., S. M. Arthur, J. A. Falke, and L. R. Prugh. 2021. Determinants of gray wolf (Canis lupus) sightings in Denali National Park. Arctic 74(1): 51-66.
- Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
Wolf Denning in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
- Locations: Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
Read the abstract and summary and get the link to a recently published article of wolf denning: Joly, K., M. S. Sorum, and M. D. Cameron. 2018. Denning ecology of wolves in east-central Alaska, 1993-2017. Arctic Institute of North America 71(4).
- Locations: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Denali National Park & Preserve, Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
Wildlife biologists have long known that wolves occasionally travel enormous distances in search of new mates and ranges. However, the advent of GPS-based wildlife tracking has allowed researchers to follow in the very footsteps of wolves as they travel across vast and wild landscapes. Alaska National Park scientists have witnessed some surprisingly intimate and breathtaking interconnections between wolves, parks and people by using this technology over the last few years.
- Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
Wolf Monitoring
- Locations: Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
Read the abstract and link to the monograph resulting from more than 22 years of monitoring; one of the four longest-running studies in North America. Schmidt, J. H., J. W. Burch, and M. C. MacCluskie. 2017. Effects of control on the dynamics of an adjacent protected wolf population in Interior Alaska. Wildlife Monographs 198:1-30.
- Denali National Park & Preserve
Large Mammals in Denali: How Many Are There?
- Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve
Science Summary (2014) - Check out a yearly update of population estimates for "the Big Five" species of Denali - wolves, caribou, Dall sheep, moose and bears.
- Denali National Park & Preserve
How Wolves Respond to Changes in Climate and Prey
- Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve
Read the abstract and get a link to a paper that describes the dynamics of wolf populations in relationship to caribou populations and snowfall. Borg, B. L. and D. W. Schirokauer. 2022. The role of weather and long-term prey dynamics as drivers of wolf population dynamics in a multi-prey system. Frontiers in Ecological Evolution 10: 791161.
- Denali National Park & Preserve
Dominance dynamics among scavengers
- Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve
Read the abstract and link to a paper that explores the interactions of wolves, wolverines, coyotes, and foxes for carrion resources: Klauder, K. J., B. L. Borg, K. J. Sivy, and L. R. Prugh. In press, 2021. Gifts of an enemy: Scavenging dynamics in the presence of wolves (Canis lupus). Journal of Mammalogy
- Denali National Park & Preserve
Living arrangements between wolves and coyotes
- Locations: Denali National Park & Preserve
Read a summary and get the link to a published paper that explores how coyote and wolf share territory (or don't): Klauder, K., B. Borg, and L. Prugh. 2021. Living on the edge: Spatial response of coyotes (Canis latrans) to wolves (Canis lupus) in the subarctic. Canadian Journal of Zoology 99: 279-288.
Last updated: July 16, 2019