Oregon

Cooperative breeding is a fundamental feature of many animal family groups. However, few studies have quantified whether variation in group size meaningfully buffers social and reproductive consequences following parental death.
Using 17 years of data from a grey wolf (Canis lupus) population in Oregon, USA, we evaluated how parental death (the death of one or both parents) influenced pack dissolution, reproductive failure and pup recruitment and whether larger pack sizes mitigated these effects.
Across 303 pack-years, we recorded 69 parental deaths, 39 pack dissolutions and 112 reproductive failures. Packs that experienced parental death were nearly five times more likely to dissolve (95% CI: 2.12–11.12), nearly 16 times more likely to fail reproductively (95% CI: 5.34–47.26) and recruited 66% fewer pups (95% CI: 49%–78% fewer) than packs in which both parents survived.
Larger packs were associated with improved demographic outcomes overall, but these group-size benefits were insufficient to fully offset the elevated risks associated with parental death.
Our results show that numerous individuals can provide generalized pack-level demographic resilience but do not functionally replace parental roles, highlighting the importance of evaluating social structure in addition to population size.
By clarifying the limits of social buffering in a cooperatively breeding carnivore, this study advances understanding of how social systems respond to parental death.

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were eliminated from the state of Oregon in the middle of the 20th century. By the early 21st century, wolves had returned to the northeast corner of the state, dispersing from populations reintroduced in Idaho and Wyoming. On a series of random-sample telephone surveys (2011–2018), we asked more than 3,000 northeast Oregon residents about their preferences concerning wolf management strategies. One-third of the respondents said that wolves should be eliminated from this region. Sociopolitical identity dominated other individual characteristics including age, education, years resident, and forestland ownership in predicting wolf-management views. Political effects appear even stronger when our indicator distinguishes the most conservative, and further intensify when most of the respondent’s friends belong to the same party. This strong influence of sociopolitical identity echoes findings from the broader literature on environmental concern, but adds a new and policy-relevant element to wolf-attitude research. As wolves expand throughout the west, and new states consider reintroduction, state and federal wildlife managers face deeply rooted opposition. Managers must consider a range of strategies to manage wolves while working with community leaders in wolf-occupied areas to determine management options.

nly one scat sample contained grasshopper parts, but the presence of 362 forewings revealed that this wolf had consumed at least 181 grasshoppers in a short amount of time (i.e., quickly enough to be deposited as a single scat). GLO:ECL/01feb20:ecy2892-fig-0002.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): Photographs demonstrating that wolf activity corresponds with grasshopper inactivity, making grasshoppers easy targets for wolves. However, the hypothesis could be easily tested by examining grasshopper behavior, morphology, and other traits when exposed to wolf cues, such as commercially available wolf urine or wolf sounds. Surprisingly few published studies have assessed the occurrence of other smaller prey items in wolf diets through analysis of scats or stomach contents (Newsome et al. [11]), which are needed to provide a comprehensive view of wolf diet and their role as a predator.

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) are the most socially polarizing species listed under the Endangered Species Act. Wildlife management practices at local, state, and federal levels include lethal control to resolve stakeholder and wolf conflicts as a last resort. There is little experimental evidence that lethal control is effective in this regard, the only exception being situations where full pack removal is implemented. Gray wolves still need federal protections and the results of this literature review indicate that the Department of the Interior (DOI) and state wildlife management agencies should evaluate their lethal management policies as they relate to gray wolves and conservation goals. Becoming more efficient in site-specific non-lethal wildlife management practices could help bridge the social disparities between various stakeholders and ultimately improve the conservation, sustainability, and tolerance of the gray wolf.

Admixture resulting from natural dispersal processes can potentially generate novel phenotypic variation that may facilitate persistence in changing environments or result in the loss of population-specific adaptations. Yet, under the US Endangered Species Act, policy is limited for management of individuals whose ancestry includes a protected taxon; therefore, they are generally not protected under the Act. This issue is exemplified by the recently re-established grey wolves of the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon, USA. This population was likely founded by two phenotypically and genetically distinct wolf ecotypes: Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) forest and coastal rainforest. The latter is considered potentially threatened in southeast Alaska and thus the source of migrants may affect plans for their protection. To assess the genetic source of the re-established population, we sequenced a ~ 300 bp portion of the mitochondrial control region and ~ 5 Mbp of the nuclear genome. Genetic analysis revealed that the Washington wolves share ancestry with both wolf ecotypes, whereas the Oregon population shares ancestry with NRM forest wolves only. Using ecological niche modelling, we found that the Pacific Northwest states contain environments suitable for each ecotype, with wolf packs established in both environmental types. Continued migration from coastal rainforest and NRM forest source populations may increase the genetic diversity of the Pacific Northwest population. However, this admixed population challenges traditional management regimes given that admixture occurs between an adaptively distinct ecotype and a more abundant reintroduced interior form. Our results emphasize the need for a more precise US policy to address the general problem of admixture in the management of endangered species, subspecies, and distinct population segments.