Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Annual arctic wolf pack size related to arctic hare numbers

January 1, 2007

During the summers of 2000 through 2006, I counted arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos) pups and adults in a pack, arctic hares (Lepus arcticus) along a 9 km index route in the area, and muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) in a 250 km2 part of the area near Eureka (80?? N, 86?? W), Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Adult wolf numbers did not correlate with muskox numbers, but they were positively related (r2 = 0.89; p < 0.01) to an arctic hare index. This is the first report relating wolf numbers to non-ungulate prey. ?? The Arctic Institute of North America.

Publication Year 2007
Title Annual arctic wolf pack size related to arctic hare numbers
DOI 10.14430/arctic222
Authors L. D. Mech
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Arctic
Index ID 70030962
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center