Coyote foraging ecology and vigilance in response to gray wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 985-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Adam Switalski
Keyword(s):  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Gray Wolf ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
Large Carnivore ◽  
Continuous Source

Coyotes (Canis latrans) in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) have lived in the absence of wolves (Canis lupus) for over 60 years. I examined whether wolf reintroduction in 1995 and 1996 in YNP influenced coyote vigilance and foraging ecology. From December 1997 to July 2000, my co-workers and I collected 1708 h of coyote activity budgets. Once wolves became established in the Park, they once again provided a continuous source of carrion in the Lamar Valley and we found that coyotes began feeding on carcasses throughout the year. Although we documented that wolves killed coyotes, it also became clear that surviving coyotes quickly adjusted their behaviors when wolves were present. When coyotes were near wolves or in areas of high wolf use, they fed on carcasses much more; however, they increased the amount of time spent in vigilance activities and decreased rest. There appears to be a trade-off in which wolf kills provide a quick source of food that is energetically advantageous to coyotes; however, attendant costs included increased vigilance, decreased rest, and a higher risk of being killed. Changes in the behavior of coyotes in response to the reintroduction of this large carnivore may ultimately have wide-ranging cascading effects throughout the ecosystem.

scholarly journals Foraging and Feeding Ecology of the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus): Lessons from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

2006 ◽  
Vol 136 (7) ◽  
pp. 1923S-1926S ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Stahler ◽  
Douglas W. Smith ◽  
Debra S. Guernsey
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Ecology ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Gray Wolf

scholarly journals Differential wolf-pack-size persistence and the role of risk when hunting dangerous prey

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (12) ◽  
pp. 1473-1487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon M. Barber-Meyer ◽  
L. David Mech ◽  
Wesley E. Newton ◽  
Bridget L. Borg
Keyword(s):  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Gray Wolf ◽  
Pack Size ◽  
Alces Americanus ◽  
Denali National Park

Risk to predators hunting dangerous prey is an emerging area of research and could account for possible persistent differences in gray wolf (Canis lupus) pack sizes. We documented significant differences in long-term wolf-pack-size averages and variation in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Denali National Park and Preserve, Yellowstone National Park, and Yukon, Canada (). The SNF differences could be related to the wolves’ risk when hunting primary prey, for those packs () hunting moose (Alces americanus) were significantly larger than those () hunting white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (, ). Our data support the hypothesis that differential pack-size persistence may be perpetuated by differences in primary prey riskiness to wolves, and we highlight two important extensions of this idea: (1) the potential for wolves to provision and defend injured packmates from other wolves and (2) the importance of less-risky, buffer prey to pack-size persistence and year-to-year variation.

Trophic cascades linking wolves (Canis lupus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and small mammals

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Miller ◽  
Henry J. Harlow ◽  
Tyler S. Harlow ◽  
Dean Biggins ◽  
William J. Ripple
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
National Park ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Mesopredator Release ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
Over Time

When large carnivores are extirpated from ecosystems that evolved with apex predators, these systems can change at the herbivore and plant trophic levels. Such changes across trophic levels are called cascading effects and they are very important to conservation. Studies on the effects of reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone National Park have examined the interaction pathway of wolves ( Canis lupus L., 1758) to ungulates to plants. This study examines the interaction effects of wolves to coyotes to rodents (reversing mesopredator release in the absence of wolves). Coyotes ( Canis latrans Say, 1823) generally avoided areas near a wolf den. However, when in the proximity of a den, they used woody habitats (pine or sage) compared with herbaceous habitats (grass or forb or sedge)– when they were away from the wolf den. Our data suggested a significant increase in rodent numbers, particularly voles (genus Microtus Schrank, 1798), during the 3-year study on plots that were within 3 km of the wolf den, but we did not detect a significant change in rodent numbers over time for more distant plots. Predation by coyotes may have depressed numbers of small mammals in areas away from the wolf den. These factors indicate a top–down effect by wolves on coyotes and subsequently on the rodents of the area. Restoration of wolves could be a powerful tool for regulating predation at lower trophic levels.

scholarly journals Coyote, Canis latrans, Predation on a Bison, Bison bison, Calf in Yellowstone National Park

2009 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 260 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Sheldon ◽  
Gregory Reed ◽  
A. Cheyenne Burnett ◽  
Kevin Li ◽  
Robert L. Crabtree
Keyword(s):  
Adult Male ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Bison Bison ◽  
Alpha Male ◽  
Complete Observation

We observed a single adult male Coyote (Canis latrans) kill a Bison (Bison bison) calf in Yellowstone National Park. The predation is, to our knowledge, the only direct and complete observation of a lone Coyote capturing and killing a Bison calf. The bison calf had unsuccessfully attempted to ford a river with a group and subsequently become stranded alone in the territory of a six-year-old alpha male Coyote.

Foraging ecology of coyotes (Canis latrans): the influence of extrinsic factors and a dominance hierarchy

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 769-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Gese ◽  
Robert L. Ruff ◽  
Robert L. Crabtree
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
National Park ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Activity Budgets ◽  
Extrinsic Factors ◽  
Time Activity

We examined the influence of intrinsic (age, sex, and social status) and extrinsic (snow depth, snowpack hardness, temperature, available ungulate carcass biomass) factors in relation to time–activity budgets of coyotes (Canis latrans) in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. We observed 54 coyotes (49 residents from 5 packs, plus 5 transients) for 2507 h from January 1991 to June 1993. Snow depth, ungulate carcass biomass, and habitat type influenced the amount of time coyotes rested, travelled, hunted small mammals, and fed on carcasses. Coyotes decreased travelling and hunting and increased resting and feeding on carcasses as snow depth and available carcass biomass increased. Age and social status of the coyote influenced activity budgets. During times of deep snow and high carcass biomass, pups fed less on carcasses and hunted small mammals more than alpha and beta coyotes. Pups apparently were restricted by older pack members from feeding on a carcass. Thus, pups adopted a different foraging strategy by spending more time hunting small mammals. Coyotes spent most of their time hunting small mammals in mesic meadows and shrub–meadows, where prey densities were highest. Prey-detection rates and prey-capture rates explained 78 and 84%, respectively, of the variation in the amount of time coyotes spent hunting small mammals in each habitat in each winter. Our findings strongly suggested that resource partitioning, as mediated by defense by older coyotes, occurred among coyote pack members in Yellowstone National Park.

The acceptance of a new breeding male into a wild wolf pack

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 360-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R Stahler ◽  
Douglas W Smith ◽  
Robert Landis
Keyword(s):  
Direct Observation ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Alpha Male ◽  
Stereotyped Behaviors ◽  
Close Range

The acceptance of an unfamiliar male wolf (Canis lupus) into a wolf pack after the recent death of the pack's alpha male was observed and filmed at close range in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A. A 2½-year-old dispersing male from a neighboring pack was accepted as a new pack member over the course of a 6-h interaction. This observation involved stereotyped behaviors and canid body posturing in association with dominance/submission, play solicitation, and courtship. Although documented before via radiotelemetry, this interaction marks the first direct observation of a wild wolf pack accepting and incorporating a strange wolf as a breeder and pack leader.

Howling by coyotes ( Canis latrans): variation among social classes, seasons, and pack sizes

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1037-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M Gese ◽  
Robert L Ruff
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
National Park ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
The Core ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Breeding Seasons

From January 1991 to June 1993 we observed 54 coyotes (Canis latrans) for 2507 h in Yellowstone National Park,Wyoming, during which we observed 517 howling events. Among coyotes of different types of social organization (residentversus transient), members of resident packs initiated or participated in howling events, while transient individuals were neverobserved howling (n = 51 h of observation). For members of resident packs, alpha coyotes spent more time howling and had ahigher rate of howling events than beta coyotes and pups; beta coyotes and pups howled similarly. The percentage of time andthe rate of howling events typically peaked in the dispersal and breeding seasons, with the lowest rate of howling during puprearing. Social rank and season did not influence the length of howling events. Pack size did not affect howling rates amongindividuals in a pack or the alpha pair. With respect to space-use patterns, coyotes in resident packs howled more frequentlythan expected along the periphery of the territory than in the core area. We concluded that, like wolves (Canis lupus), allcoyotes in the resident pack did not contribute equally to howling duties; alpha coyotes howled more than all coyotes. Howlingby coyotes appears to serve a territorial spacing function that is mainly performed by the alpha pair of the resident pack.

scholarly journals Unusual Behavior by Bison, Bison bison, Toward Elk, Cervus elaphus, and Wolves, Canis lupus

2004 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. David Mech ◽  
Rick T. McIntyre ◽  
Douglas W. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Cervus Elaphus ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Bison Bison ◽  
Unusual Behavior

Incidents are described of Bison (Bison bison) in Yellowstone National Park mauling and possibly killing a young Elk (Cervus elaphus) calf, chasing wolves (Canis lupus) off Elk they had just killed or were killing, and keeping the wolves away for extended periods. During one of the latter cases, the Bison knocked a wolf-wounded Elk down. Bison were also seen approaching wolves that were resting and sleeping, rousting them, following them to new resting places and repeating this behavior. These behaviors might represent some type of generalized hyper-defensiveness that functions as an anti-predator strategy.

SEROLOGICAL SURVEY FOR DISEASES IN FREE-RANGING COYOTES (CANIS LATRANS) IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING

1997 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Gese ◽  
Ronald D. Schultz ◽  
Mark R. Johnson ◽  
Elizabeth S. Williams ◽  
Robert L. Crabtree ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Serological Survey ◽  
Free Ranging
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