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Post by Lefitte on Jan 11, 2012 7:37:54 GMT -5
Hudson Bay Wolf- From Wolf Biology and Ecology:- The Hudson Bay Wolf: - Scientific name: Canis lupus hudsonicus- Nickname: The Tundra Wolf - Status: Endangered - Description: Thick nearly white coat, 4-5 feet long, 3˝ feet high, 60-90 pounds. - From The Wolf HOmepage: - The Northwest territories and northern Manitoba, north and west of the Hudson's bay. A medium sized subspecies with pale, often white, coats. These wolves often migrate south, into the range of C. l. griseoalbus, when they followed caribou herds. - From Lioncrusher's Domain: - A light-colored wolf of medium size having a winter coat that is nearly white. It is often called a "tundra wolf." It lives in the area west and north of the Hudson Bay. It migrates south with the caribou herd.
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Post by Atheron on Jan 11, 2012 9:00:19 GMT -5
Alexander Archipelago Wolf
From Lioncrusher's Domain: Smaller than most wolves in North America. It has short hair and is dark in color. A black phase is common. A black phase is gray colored fur underneath black fur.
From The Wolf Homepage: Southeast Alaska. These animals are smaller than other wolves found in northern Canada and Alaska. They vary in colour and many are black.
From Wolf Biology and ecology: Alexander Archipelago Wolf: Scientific name: Canis lupus ligon Status: Endangered Description: One of the smallest wolves, about 3˝ feet long, about 2 feet high, 30-50 pounds, short haired with a gray coat of fur underneath a black coat.
From Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Conservation: The Alexander Archipelago wolf is a subspecies of the gray or timber wolf and is found in southeast Alaska. The information that follows is from the referenced report by Person et al. (1996). This technical report was published by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service.
We summarized the scientific information available for the Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni) in the Tongass National Forest of southeast Alaska. Information concerning the morphology, distribution, taxonomy, genetics, and ecology of wolves is presented. Three issues for the conservation of wolves in southeast Alaska are discussed: loss of long-term carrying capacity for deer due primarily to extensive timber harvesting, increased mortality of wolves associated with improved human access from roads, and continued high levels of harvest of wolves by humans. Continued timber harvesting at current levels and by current methods will likely have adverse consequences for some segments of the wolf population. Although some short-term regulatory changes and the management of road access may need to be considered to keep wolf harvest at a sustainable level, the most important consideration is to maintain long-term carrying capacity for deer, the principal prey for most of the wolf population. A series of old-growth forest reserves may provide an effective strategy to increase the likelihood that wolves will persist where extensive timber harvesting has occurred, or is planned.
The Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni) occupies most of southeast Alaska from Yakutat Bay to Dixon Entrance except for Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof Islands. Based on common cranial characteristics, the Alexander Archipelago wolf was considered by early taxonomists to be a distinct subspecies. Recent taxonomic work suggests that these wolves may have originated from a larger subspecific group (C. l. nubilus) that at one time inhabited most of the contiguous Western United States. Wolves probably entered southeast Alaska sometime after the Wisconsin glaciation, following the northward expansion of black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) along the coast. The hypothesis of a southern origin is supported by recent genetic research showing that wolves in southeast Alaska share a common allele not found in a sample of wolves from interior Alaska or the Yukon. The population is relatively isolated from other wolf populations by water and mountain barriers.
From The Center for Biological Diversity: The Alexander Archipelago wolf lives on the southeastern Alaskan mainland from Dixon Entrance to Yakutat Bay, and on all the larger islands of the Alexander Archipelago. Smaller, darker and shorter-haired than the gray wolves of Interior Alaska, Alexander Archipelago wolves eat primarily Sitka black-tailed deer; they also prey on beaver, and occasionally eat mustelids, other small mammals, birds, and salmon.
The Tongass National Forest comprises much of the range of the Alexander Archipelago wolf. Road-building and hunting are threatening the wolf; an average of 175 wolves are killed annually by hunting or trapping. Harvest of old-growth forest on the Tongass is causing a decline in numbers of Sitka black-tailed deer, which will reduce the wolf's prey base and threaten its survival. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now estimates the population consists of 750 and 1,500 individuals.
Along with partner organizations including the Biodiversity Legal Foundation and the Native Forest Network, the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in February 1996 against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for denying a petition to list the Alexander Archipelago wolf as an endangered species. Though the scientific data clearly indicated the wolf warranted listing as endangered, the Service had denied the petition to list it on the basis that the Tongass National Forest had "promised" to develop adequate protection measures in the future.
In October 1996, the federal court overturned the Service's decision not to propose the Alexander Archipelago Wolf as endangered. In his ruling, Judge Sporkin concluded that the Service could not rely on a promise by the Tongass National Forest to adequately protect the wolf in a long promised revision to its Forest Plan. Cutting through the Service's specious argument that the wolf will be endangered in the future but is not now, Sporkin declared, "If, with the continuation of current circumstances, the wolf will be 'endangered' in the future, it is clearly 'threatened' today."
Despite this clear legal victory, in late 1997 the Service once again found that listing of the wolf as threatened was not warranted, claiming that the new 1997 Tongass National Forest Land Management Plan would sufficiently protect the wolf. The Service claims "Wolves in southeast Alaska will not be in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future because we expect the population decline to stop at an acceptable level." Its finding violates the law.
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Post by Atheron on Jan 11, 2012 9:14:33 GMT -5
The following entries are from WolfHowl.org Kenai Peninsula Wolf (Canis lupus alces): Characteristics: Among the largest of North American Wolves and named after the moose (Alces alces) on which it fed. This Wolf was driven to extinction by 1925.
Manitoba Wolf (Canis lupus griseoalbus): Characteristics: This subspecies is believed to be extinct. There is controversy over whether this Wolf actually existed.
Northern Rocky Mountains Wolf (Canis lupus irremotus): Characteristics: In the United States this subspecies is thought to be extinct. There are, however, a few reports of sightings in the Glacier National Park and Montana.
Labrador Wolf (Canis lupus labradorius): Characteristics: Fur color is dark grey to almost white.
Baffin Island Wolf (Canis lupus manningi): Characteristics: The smallest the arctic Wolves. This Wolf was not recognized as a subspecies until 1943.
Southwestern Wolf or Mogollon Mountain Wolf (Canis lupus mogollonensis): Characteristics: A medium-sized Wolf. The coloration was usually dark, sometimes white. This Wolf was hunted to extinction by 1935.
Texas Wolf (Canis lupus monstrablis): Characteristics: Usually small and dark, occasionally white. This Wolf was purposefully driven to extinction by 1942. Way to go Texas!
The Greenland Wolf (Canis lupus orion): Characteristics: Many scientists doubt that this is/was a distinct subspecies of Wolf and feel it's likely Canis lupus arctos. If it is an actual subspecies it's now likely extinct.
The Alaskan Wolf (Canis lupus pambasileus): Characteristics: Among the largest Wolves in North America.
The Alaskan Tundra Wolf (Canis lupus tundrarum): Characteristics: A large Wolf with light colored fur.
Southern Rocky Mountains Wolf (Canis lupus youngi): Characteristics: A light buff colored Wolf. This Wolf was hunted to extinction by 1935.
Steppe Wolf (Canis lupus campestris): Characteristics: A small Wolf with a rough, short, grey colored fur.
Tibetan Wolf Canis lupus laniger (includes chanku and cubanensis): Characteristics: This is a medium to large-sized Wolf having a dark, almost black, pelt. This Wolf is nomadic, migrating from place to place.
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