British Columbia Wolf (Canis lupus columbianus) – (Goldman 1941)
Alexander Archipelago Wolf (Canis lupus ligoni) – (Goldman 1937), Vancouver Island Wolf (Canis lupus crassodon) – (Hall 1932)
Common Names: Coastal Wolves, North Pacific Coastal Wolves
Overall population: unknown
Physical description:
Range:
Original range –
Current range – A narrow stretch of habitat along the mainland coast and near-shore islands covered with temperate rainforest, which extends from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to the Alexander Archipelago in south-east Alaska.
Habitat / Ecology / Prey:
Habitat – Islands, temperate rainforest
Ecology –
Prey – salmon, clams and mussels
Unique behaviors:
Legal and Cultural Background:
Conservation:
Raincoast Conservation Foundation
Pacific Wild (Denny Island BC, Canada)
Taxonomic/Genetic Information:
“The affinities of wolves in interior British Columbia and Yukon (C. l. nubilus versus C. l. occidentalis) are still unresolved (Fig. 1). Likewise, relationships among coastal British Columbia populations and southeastern Alaska Coastal populations are unclear. Muñoz-Fuentes et al. (2009) suggested that coastal British Columbia wolves are ecologically and genetically distinct from other North American wolf populations.
Wolf taxonomy and evolutionary history are complex and controversial in North America (Kyle et al. 2006; Murray and Waits 2007; Wheeldon and White 2009). Coastal populations currently are included in C. l. nubilus, a widespread subspecies that encompasses pre-eradication populations in the conterminous United States and eastern Canada (Nowak 1995).”
Ecological factors drive differentiation in wolves from British Columbia; Muñoz-Fuentes, Violeta; Darimont, Chris T.; Wayne, Robert K.; Paquet, Paul C.; Leonard, Jennifer A., Journal of Biogeography. 2009
LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION
BRITISH COLUMBIA WOLF NEWS
Further Reading
Journal Articles- Wolves in British Columbia
Journal / Scientific Publications:
Going Coastal: Shared Evolutionary History between Coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska Wolves (Canis lupus; Weckworth, Byron V.; Dawson, Natalie G.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Flamme, Melanie J.; Cook, Joseph A. (2011), PLoS ONE. 6 (5): e19582.
Ecological factors drive differentiation in wolves from British Columbia; Muñoz-Fuentes, Violeta; Darimont, Chris T.; Wayne, Robert K.; Paquet, Paul C.; Leonard, Jennifer A., Journal of Biogeography. 2009