When a wolf is harvested, another wolf probably wonât join the pack because of its social structure, researchers say.
Scientists working in central Idaho and southwest Alberta, Canada, found immigration does not offset harvest mortality, and that pack density declined after the governments began harvest programs.
Their paper appears in Zoological Society of London journal Animal Conservation.
âOur results indicate immigration did not compensate for harvest mortality,â the researchers found. âWe hypothesize the social structure of wolf groups may limit the potentially compensatory response of immigration in some populations.â
Central Idaho study areas saw wolf density decline, lead researcher Sarah Bassing said. Density declined even more in Alberta.