Wolves of the High Arctic – Research on the Arctic Wolves of Ellesmere Island

"Since our last installment, Brutus (and pack?) spent most of the time south of the fiord in the area inaccessible to us from the ground during summer. Brutus returned to the rendezvous site (RS) on September 25, so it is clear the pups are still there. Sometimes better-developed pups accompany adults for long distances while less-developed pups remain at the RS.

We have now received approvals to post maps of Brutus' locations, so accompanying this is a series of maps, starting from afar and closing in on the actual study area. The close-up shows all of Brutus' locations through September 15, 2009. Now with this map, you may want to re-read some of the earlier entries where we refer to the impassable mud flats, the weather
station, fiord, etc. Doing this will help you gain perspective on the many events described earlier.

To gain a better idea about the terrain, you may want to download Google Earth, www.earth.google.com, search for "Ellesmere Island, Eureka" and zoom in on some of the areas shown where the wolves frequent. Of course, the area was satellite-photographed at different times, primarily mid-summer. Currently the ground is snow-covered, and the fiords frozen. Will the wolves start crossing them to other areas to gain more prey? Stay tuned.

Dave