Recent survey evidence suggests that most Canadians have positive opinions of wolves and rural Canadians in particular have strongly positive feelings on wolves and their protection.
Reintroducing wolves can restore important ecological processes, but it can have unintended effects when smaller predators like coyotes are driven closer to people, a team of ecologists found.
Less than a century ago, Colorado hunted, trapped and poisoned all the wolves within its borders. Today it’s restoring them – a change that reflects a profound shift in human thinking.
Polar bears and wolves may get the glory, but small predators like weasels, foxes and their cousins play outsized ecological roles. And many of these species are declining fast.
Wildfires are remaking western US forests. Decisions about managing forests that have burned should factor in how fires change animal behavior and interactions between predators and prey.
Woodland caribou populations are on the decline because human activity changes their habitat and exposes them to predation by wolves. But changing wolves’ hunting habits may protect the caribou.
The hunting territories of wolves in the northern boreal forests are changing, in part due to the convenience of trails built for logging. This has placed caribou at an even greater risk.
Jackals appeared and established themselves in Africa in at least the last five million years. These animals have evolved and adapted to the changing environment, allowing them to survive.
For the first time in the US, a ballot measure will ask voters whether to restore wolves to a place where they’ve been eradicated. Coloradans have strong views on both sides.
Curator of Cenozoic Palaeontology, Research and Exhibitions, Iziko Museums of South Africa; Honorary Research associate Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town