Abstract
We investigated wolf predation as a potential driver of population change in the Nushagak Peninsula caribou herd, southwestern Alaska. We investigated the time budgets of three wolf packs using the peninsula from 2007 through 2012, and thus potentially preying on caribou there, in order to make inferences on their likelihood of serving as an important population modifier for the Nushagak Peninsula caribou herd. We found that only one pack regularly used the peninsula. The pack using the peninsula spent an average of 35% of its time there. Its use of the peninsula was disproportionately high in late summer and fall, disproportionately low in winter, and proportional during the caribou calving season in early summer. Overall wolf use of the Nushagak Peninsula increased in direct response to increasing caribou abundance but was not a primary population driver.
Highlights
The Nushagak Peninsula caribou (Rangifer tarandus) herd (NPCH) was established by relocating caribou to the Nushagak Peninsula (NP) from the Alaska Peninsula in 1988 after an absence of >100 years (Hinkes & Van Daele, 1996)
We investigated wolf predation as a potential driver of population change in the Nushagak Peninsula caribou herd, southwestern Alaska
It is reasonable to hypothesize that wolf predation drove the caribou population decline, as wolf predation has been described by many investigators as the leading source of caribou mortality, and it is commonly suspected in population declines (McLoughlin et al, 2003; Jenkins & Barten, 2005; Farnell & McDonald, 1988; Gunn et al, 2006; Kojola et al, 2004; Hayes et al, 2003)
Summary
The Nushagak Peninsula caribou (Rangifer tarandus) herd (NPCH) was established by relocating caribou to the Nushagak Peninsula (NP) from the Alaska Peninsula in 1988 after an absence of >100 years (Hinkes & Van Daele, 1996). The NPCH has been non-migratory since establishment. This possibility was regularly voiced by state and federal citizen wildlife advisory groups, and predator control was often suggested as a solution to the population decline. In many cases where wolf predation was suspected as a driver of population declines, Rangifer, 39, (1) 2019
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