Ellesmere wolf movements

Wolves on Ellesmere Island, just south of the North Pole, survive in extreme cold during 24 hours of darkness per day from November through January, and survive in much higher temperatures during 24 hours of light per day from April through September. Partnering with other agencies, we use GPS radio collars applied to wolves during summer to examine wolf-pack movements on Ellesmere Island throughout the year. Packs of 20 or more wolves travel over as much as 2,555 square miles (6,640 square kilometers) within territories during winter darkness and summer total light, kill muskoxen, caribou and arctic hares throughout the entire year, and produce litters averaging four pups each May. Sizes of six pack territories during summer varied from 688 to 4,728 km2 (95% MCP).  For three packs winter territory sizes varied from 1,260 to 6,026 km2 (95% MCP). DNA from these and other Ellesmere packs are being analyzed to determine degree of inbreeding and heterozygosity for this island population at the extreme northern edge of the species’ circumpolar distribution.