Human impact on wolf habitats leading to coyote-wolf interbreeding

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This article was published 24/09/2015 (3743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Almost 10 per cent of wolves tested in Manitoba had genetic profiles suggesting wolf-coyote hybridization, according to a 2012 study.

The study, which looked the genetic profiles of captured wolves from Manitoba to Quebec, opens the possibility that a wolf intrusion at Hillside Beach and Victoria Beach could be due in part to hybrid wolves – so-called coywolves. The animals have attacked four pet dogs in the past month, killing three.

Study co-author Paul Paquet of the University of Victoria said the main reason wolves and coyotes can interbreed is the impact of humans on wolf habitat, and what he called “the long-term persecution of wolves,” such as extensive hunting and trapping to eradicate the predator. 

Coyotes, meanwhile, have for the most part thrived and have made their territories in urban settings, such as Charleswood and south Winnipeg.

Paquet said low wolf numbers and a healthy coyote population creates an opportunity for breeding between the species.

The hybridization can be traced back to the mid-20th century, and perhaps even further to colonization, he said Thursday. Paquet is also the senior scientist with the Rainforest Conservation Foundation. 

The study, called Canid Hybridization: Contemporary Evolution on Human-Modified Landscapes, also found that 6.3 per cent of coyotes tested had genetic profiles suggesting wolf-coyote hybridization. Researchers collected tissue, blood and hair samples of wolves and coyotes obtained during 1990-2010.

Most prairie samples were collected in the Riding Mountain National Park region.

The numbers are higher in Quebec. The study found, 12.6 per cent of coyotes and 37.4 per cent of wolves had profiles indicating hybrid origin. There is no clear explanation why contemporary wolf hybridization appears more common in Quebec than on the Prairies.

The numbers are similar in most of the Great Lakes area and the northern United States, Paquet said.

Wolf/coyote hybridization has not been found west of Manitoba.

“We’re not sure why that is,” Paquet said.

Lori Schmidt, the wolf curator at the International Wolf Center’s interpretive center in Ely, Minn., said coywolves are more commonly found in the eastern United States.

Schmidt said the presence of hybrid wolves is more a sign of adaptation than anything else. That includes the decline of moose, elk and caribou — replaced by white-tail deer — and climate change.

“Here we are at the end of September and we haven’t even had a frost yet,” she said. “The ecological system is going to adapt to whatever niche it needs.”

He also said it’s rare for wolves to attack dogs, although in the most recent case the dogs might have been attacked because the wolves saw them as competitors, not food.

He also warned against making generalizations about the animal’s behavior as it can vary depending on the environment and situation, and the impact of humans on them.

He cautioned residents and cottagers in the area do have to be mindful that wolves have moved in, but generally do not have to significantly alter their activities.

“It’s a matter of being cautious,” he said.

Provincial and local officials have warned pet owners to keep their pets indoors, and not let them roam at large.

A professional trapper has been brought in by the province to capture the most problem wolves.

“The likelihood is that the wolves will remain there,” Paquet said, adding the predators would find it difficult to move into another pack’s territory.

“The wolf population trails the prey population about one year,” he said.

Similar instances of wolves attacking dogs have been experienced in northern Minnesota this year.

Wisconsin has seen about half-a-dozen dogs killed by wolves this year.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca