Did you know, that under certain conditions, wolves can hear as far as six miles (9.6 km) away in the forest and ten miles (16 km) on the open tundra? They spend about 35% of their time traveling and often travel 20 – 30 miles (32 – 48 km) per day, but may cover over 100 miles (160 km) in a day when prey is scarce.  The wolf’s ability to cover enormous distances, even under difficult winter conditions can make them a threat to species such as caribou.

wolf-1SFI has funded work through the University of Saskatchewan to use LiDAR data with telemetry data from caribou, wolves and grizzly bears to assess patterns of species movements in the boreal forest landscape. This data will help understand the effects of forest harvesting patterns.  Ideally this data would be used to increase caribou functional habitat and reduce predation by wolves.

So as many North Americans continue to experience unusually cold weather, make sure you bundle up and enjoy the sights and sounds of the outdoors this weekend – and think about Mother Nature’s wolves and their remarkable abilities in their wintery habitats.

SFI IN BRIEF

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