"North Pole Wolf" Emails Locations to Researchers
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"North Pole Wolf" Emails Locations to Researchers
They want to learn how arctic wolves fare in winter
Thanks to a satellite collar, two innovative scientists, and a blog,
people can follow the travels of Brutus, the “North Pole wolf” as he
leads his pack through the long arctic winter.
In July the scientists, one from the United States, the other from
Canada, put the satellite collar on Brutus, the leader of his wolf
pack, on remote Ellesmere Island, only 600 miles from the North Pole.
Their goal – to finally find out what these “North Pole wolves” do in
the long, dark days of winter in one of the harshest areas of the
world.
“We first encountered 9-year-old Brutus back in 2003,” said David
Mech, a renowned U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) wolf researcher who has
been studying the Ellesmere Island wolves for the last 24 years. That
is, he’s followed them during summer, which is pretty much the month
of July. Snow begins falling in August, and except for June, that
fleeting month of arctic spring, at most other times it is nearly
impossible for people to travel to the island or withstand the cold
temperatures.
“This year, we made a huge technological jump from notebook and pens
to satellite collars because we wanted to find out what these arctic
wolves do in winter in areas when it is dark 24 hours a day and
temperatures can fall to -70 degrees Fahrenheit,” Mech said. “How far
must they travel to obtain enough food to make it to the Arctic
spring, which doesn’t happen until the next June?”
If the high-tech collars can withstand these temperatures, Mech and
his colleague, Canadian researcher Dean Cluff, can sit in total
comfort in their offices far to the south and find out via emails from
Brutus. As Mech admits, it’s quite a difference from the harsh and
often-sleepless conditions the researchers are used to in the field.
When Mech first visited Ellesmere Island in 1986, he found that the
wolves there were tame because of few to no interactions with people.
Since then, the wolf researcher has taken advantage of this unusual
research opportunity to uncover facets of wolf behavior and ecology
that can’t be learned anywhere else.
This information supplements his other wolf research during the rest
of the year in areas like Minnesota and Yellowstone National Park.
Mech’s life work on wolves has been instrumental in unraveling the
little-known daily world of wolves. Ultimately, it has also helped
resource managers better understand the complex nature of wolf ecology
and management, including the challenging task of managing wolf-
livestock interactions.
Brutus is an imposing 90-pound wolf, who sports a lionish ruff and
that new satellite collar around his neck. Like all arctic wolves,
Brutus is mostly white or light in color, and has long, coltish legs
superbly suited for his long-distance jaunts and major hunting forays.
And, says Mech, he’s not afraid to keep his pack of at least 12 adults
and 6-12 pups in line.
Brutus’ collar collects and stores 2 locations per day, obtained via
Global Positioning Satellites (GPS). Every 4 days the collar uploads
the data to ARGOS satellites that email Brutus’ location at a
particular time and date to the researchers’ computers. Unlike the VHF
radio collar, which is still widely used to locate animals and birds,
the GPS collar "listens" to the signal from a constellation of
satellites and can calculate, by triangulating its own location,
precisely where the animal is.
Since the researchers left Ellesmere, the wolf has “emailed” 145
locations to Mech and Cluff. So far, Brutus and his pack have covered
an area of 740 square miles. And, said Mech, one day recently, Brutus
traveled about 21 miles (straight-line distance) in no more than 12
hours. “He no doubt went around steep Blacktop Mountain, which would
have required travel of much more than 21 miles, and all this in 12
hours max,” explained Mech. “While not unheard of, this long travel is
still impressive.” ... (cont)