Saskatchewan Boreal Wolf Project
112 Science Place Univ. of Sask. S7N 5E2 Saskatoon, SK, Canada

Time to catch up and see what's going on with some of our wolves!

A few slides & pictures from my presentation at the SWF annual convention in Weyburn SK. The project was well received at the convention and I had many folks come up and talk to me about our research, and wondering how they could get involved. It was awesome to see the great interest in wolves from Saskatchewan residents!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to share a recent question I had regarding the wolf cull strategy to protect caribou that has been ongoing in B.C. and Alberta. Hi Kendra Pink, sorry I haven't gotten to this sooner, I have been MIA from Facebook for a few weeks! So this has become a hot topic in recent months with research that was published by a team of woodland caribou researchers from Alberta (I have cited the study below) .. I will not go into detail abo...ut all of their findings, but in summary the authors suggest that although killing wolves saved the little smoky caribou herd (the caribou herd being studied) from dying out, it was habitat fragmentation by humans (i.e., things like roads, pipelines, energy leases) that is the main problem for caribou population declines - not wolves. In my opinion, wolves and caribou have been coexisting for thousands of years, but human disturbance of the landscape may have tipped the balance in Northern Boreal Forest ecosystems. There is a whole suite of other changes that happen to the forest when we disturb it on a large scale that certain animals (like Boreal caribou) aren't necessarily adapted to handle. In the end, without implementing new laws to limit industrial development in Northern Boreal Forests problems like this will continue to arise. I guess the take home message is that the average person needs to decide whether or not we want to make sacrifices in our daily lives to reduce energy consumption and thereby saving caribou and avoiding shooting wolves, or continue down the current path in which we have to make difficult decisions on how humans should manage nature. Thanks for the question!! Here is a great read that goes into more detail on what I said: http://www.nature.com/.../wolf-cull-will-not-save... Here is the published research: Hervieux, Dave, et al. "Managing wolves (Canis lupus) to recover threatened woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Alberta." Canadian Journal of Zoology 92.12 (2014): 1029-1037. Wolf cull will not save threatened Canadian caribou Study suggests Canadian government strategy is not... NATURE.COM

Interesting topic brought up by Dr. Brook about the ethical practices of wolf research in some places.

Hey everyone, check out the banner below for the Saskatchewan Chapter of the Wildlife Society's (SCTWS) annual general meeting featuring invited guest speaker Dr. Bob Clark of the Canadian Wildlife Service. The event offers a great chance to come out and talk Saskatchewan wildlife, find out about upcoming SCTWS events, learn how you can get involved and listen to a truly great representative of wildlife research in Saskatchewan. Tickets are limited, but free with a valid SCTWS membership (only 5$) so register fast! (here: http://drupal.wildlife.org/Saskatchewan/agm2014 )