Stephanie Douglass, Derek Meier, John M. Stewart, Wolf Research Team, Northland College, Ashland, WI 54806, USA

Over the past seven years, the Wolf Research Team has been conducting studies of the behavior and ecology of the wolf (Canis lupus) in northern Wisconsin, a forested area fragmented by rural agriculture and suburban development. At any given time, 30-60 animals in 8-10 wolf packs are under study. Data on utilization of habitat are gathered by tracking surveys, howling surveys, and radio-telemetry monitoring.

In the course of these studies, one small group of animals was identified that exhibited an unusually restricted pattern of habitat utilization. We hypothesized that this atypical pattern was due to resource competition between packs that had emerged because the population in the local region had reached a level beyond optimality for this fragmented habitat. In order to document these atypical behavior patterns in detail, the radio-collared female in this group, W240F, was subjected to intensive studyùwhich involved weekly periods of continuous and discontinuous 24hr-monitoring by ground-fix radio-telemetry, supplemented by weekly aerial fixes. Between October 1998 and April 1999 over 400 hours were spent in ground radio-telemetry monitoring of W240F, resulting in more than 300 relocations on this animal. Comparable data were gathered concurrently on neighboring packs in the local region.

Among the atypical behavior patterns exhibited by W240F that are to be described in this paper are: (1) inhibition of dispersal, (2) restricted food choice, feeding almost exclusively on road-kill carrion, (3) extensive use of below-ground refuge for cover and rest, (4) utilization of major highways as travel corridors, (5) highly constricted home range, encompassing only 36.91 km2. In a more continuously uniform habitat, it is well-established that wolves disperse, coincident with achievement of sexual maturity, traveling to uninhabited areas or integrating into preexisting packs. The inhibition of dispersal and the attendant emergence of these other atypical behavior patterns may be associated with wolf populations that have reached or exceeded carrying capacity in a fragmented habitat.