An Overview of the status of the Wolf in Quebec, Canada by Helene Jolicoeur and Michel Henault----- Parks Quebec(2003)

As of the most recent information that I could find on the status of Wolves in Quebec, Jolicoeur and Henault

report that Wolves are found throughout Quebec...............both C.lupus(gray) and C. Lycaon(Eastern)...........Adding to the "Canid Soup" of the region is the Eastern Coyote(C.latrans) found in the Southern regions of Quebec. The bigger Gray Wolf resides in the Northern stretches and the Eastern in the more mid and Southern regions.............The Coyotes tend to occupy the Southern sectors................approximate land area where wolves and coyotes overlap is roughly 25% of Quebec.

Where deer and Moose are both available, wolf packs number 5 to 7 individuals............where it is just a Moose prey system, pack size averages 3 to 4 Wolves. 6 to 7 pups per litter is the mean reproduction occurence.

Wolves are considered Furbearers and small game in Quebec and can only be hunted and trapped with a license from the end of October thru end of March(as many of you know, Wolves and Coyotes tend to mate and breed in mid Winter and pups are born in the Spring...............seems the bagging season extends a tad long when you take into account pregnant females being hunted and trapped in Feb and March).

Wolf mortality ranges from 35 to 55% in Quebec.........human trapping, shooting and road kill account for 25 to 30 % of overall mortality..........Game Managers will tell you that to reduce wolf populations requires north of 50% mortality so there are likely areas of Quebec where humans are stressing wolf populations......................what Paul Pacquet, Camilla Fox, Linda Rutledge and many other Wolf researchers will also tell you is that Game Managers have to take into account more than just number of individuals in a population----they need to take into account the fact that social pack animals like wolves get terribly disrupted by intense human hunting and trapping----young wolves not able to train pups effectively, increased killing of livestock occurring.............increased native prey killing as well...........it is just not a numbers game when it comes to wolves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--blogger Rick

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