Latest Gray Wolf Stories
Fragments of a dog's skull and teeth have been discovered in a cave in Switzerland that date back more than 14,000 years, according to researchers, saying the find could be the oldest known remains of the domestic dog. The fossils were among archaeological finds that were unearthed in 1873 in the Kesslerloch cave in northern Switzerland, Swiss news agency ATS said on Monday. However, it was only last year that researchers at Germany's Tuebingen University decided to take a closer look at the...
Data from the Field Signals More Species Facing Extinction; Congressional Action Could Ensure Animals Are Not Lost Forever WASHINGTON, July 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Fading Call of the Wild, a report released today by the world's leading wildlife conservation organizations, details the increasing threats and plunging populations of big cats and rare canids living in the wild. Faced with a striking loss of habitat and prey due to over-development of land and direct killing by...
A scientific petition filed with the federal government on Tuesday hopes to reunite tens of thousands of gray wolves within the woods of New England, the mountains of California, the Great Plains and the desert West.The animals were poisoned and trapped to near-extermination in the U.S. last century, but they have regained population in some of the most remote wilderness in the lower 48 states. That recovery came after the reintroduction of 66 wolves in Idaho and Yellowstone National...
A new analysis of the extinction of woolly mammoths and other large mammals more than 10,000 years ago suggests that they may have fallen victim to the same type of "trophic cascade" of ecosystem disruption that scientists say is being caused today by the global decline of predators such as wolves, cougars, and sharks.In each case the cascading events were originally begun by human disruption of ecosystems, a new study concludes, but around 15,000 years ago the problem was not the...
Modern domestic canines, long thought to have been first domesticated in Asia or Europe, may actually trace their roots back to the Middle East, a team of scientists have discovered.The research, led by UCLA ecology and evolutionary biology professor Robert Wayne and published on March 17 in the online edition of Nature, found that dogs have more in common genetically with Middle Eastern gray wolves than any other canine species in the world."Genome-wide analysis now directly suggests a...
A genetic study has found that small domestic dogs probably originated in the Middle East more than 12,000 years ago. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology traced the evolutionary history of the IGF1 gene, finding that the version of the gene that is a major determinant of small size probably originated as a result of the domestication of the Middle Eastern gray wolf.Melissa Gray and Robert Wayne, from the University of California, Los Angeles, led a team of researchers...
By Joe Kosack, Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist, Pennsylvania Game Commission HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Interested in finding something new and different to try this winter? Coyote hunting may be just what you're looking for, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "Calling a coyote into shotgun range is one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had in the outdoors," said Perry County Wildlife Conservation Officer Steve Hower. "Catching one...
New animal tracking techniques suggest the public may accept small, managed populations of wolves in parksResearchers writing in the February issue of BioScience propose reintroducing small, managed populations of wolves into national parks and other areas in order to restore damaged ecosystems. The populations would not be self-sustaining, and may consist of a single pack. But the BioScience authors suggest that even managed populations could bring ecological, educational, recreational,...
Sweden launched its first wolf cull in 45 years, following a decision by parliament to control the species' numbers, according to a recent BBC report.The Swedish parliament recently decided there should be at most 210 wolves in Sweden. Since last year, over 20 pairs of wolves have given birth to pups.Over 10,000 hunters have until the 15th of February to complete the cull and more than half the quota of 27 may have been killed on the first day alone.Hunting in the county of Dalarna was halted...
After the decision by the Scandinavian country's parliament, Sweden will allow it's first wolf hunt in 45 years.Susanna Loefgren of the Swedish EPA told AFP, they are to announce by mid-December it's qouta for the wolf cull. It's expected to be between 20 and 40 animals.Loefgren says, "That (number is) what (experts) have offered us, we're working on it and a decision will be taken mid-December."The hunt will be allowed in the province of Dalarna, Gaevleborg country and Oerebro...
Latest Gray Wolf Reference Libraries
The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica) is one of the smallest species in the true seal family that is native only to the Caspian Sea. It can be seen on shorelines, rocky islands, and ice blocks that occur throughout the sea. In warmer months, these seals will inhabit northern areas of this range, but in colder months, they inhabit cooler waters and the mouths of the Ural and Volga rivers. It is thought that these seals only occur in the Caspian Sea because they moved there during the Quaternary...
The muskox (Ovibos moschatus), also known as the musk ox, is native to the Arctic areas of Canada, United Sates, and Greenland. Populations have been introduced into Norway, Sweden, and Siberia, but these are small. There was a population in Antarctica, but it was wiped out due to hunting and climate change, which caused its habitat to decline. Despite this, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service introduced a new population onto Nunivak Island in Antarctica, as a means of supported...
The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog originated as an experiment in 1955 in the former Czech Republic. The breed was created by breeding a German Shepherd with a Carpathian Wolf, in attempts to create a "wolfdog" which blended the qualities of a dog and a wolf. The breed looks the part. The build of the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, as well as its hair are wolf-like. The color of its coat is gray, with either a yellow or silver tint and a light mask. Its hair is straight and thick. The breed stands over...
The Southern-East Asian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), also known as the Turkish or Iranian Wolf, is a subspecies of Gray Wolf which ranges from Northern Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Iran. Israel seems to be the last hope for the Southern-East Asian Wolf's survival in the Middle East because it is the only country in the region where they have legal protection. There are between 150-250 wolves all over northern and central Israel. The biggest dangers to the wolves in...
The Mexican Gray Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), is the rarest, most genetically distinct subspecies of the Gray Wolf in North America. Until recent times, the Mexican Gray Wolf ranged the Sonora and Chihuahua Deserts from central Mexico to western Texas, southern New Mexico, and central Arizona. By the turn of the 20th century, reduction of natural prey like deer and elk caused many wolves to begin attacking domestic livestock, which led to intensive efforts by government agencies and...
