extirpation and recovery | attitudes | ecological role | northeast habitat | genetics debate

Genetics Debate

It’s impossible to turn back the clock 200 years to know precisely which wolves roamed the Northeast before they were eliminated. Yet as modern genetics research evolves, questions arise about which wolves once inhabited the region and which should be the focus for recovery efforts.

In recent decades, research on the smaller, reddish wolves of Algonquin park in Ontario, known as the eastern timber wolf (Canis lupus lycaon), and the red wolf of the southeastern U.S. (Canis rufus) suggested that these two species were mixes of gray wolves (Canis lupus) and coyotes (Canis latrans). However, because of other studies, the red wolf is now considered a distinct species and the eastern timber wolf is classified as one of the five North American subspecies of gray wolf. (Both red and eastern timber wolves have sometimes hybridized with coyotes as human activities have reduced habitat and coyotes have moved east and north.)

The historic ranges of both red and timber wolves certainly extended into what is now New England, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic states. At the same time, because the Northeast was once abundant in moose and caribou (in addition to deer), the region was likely capable of supporting the larger gray wolf.

Remaining questions about the origins of wolves should not prevent progress in protecting and recovering the animal in the Northeast. Rather, recovery planning should include the determination of the best species to play the ecological role of the wolf (as opposed to the very different role now played by the coyote) given the environment, prey base, and interactions with other species. If wolves return to the Northeast on their own, they will most likely come from Canada and could be eastern timber wolves or larger gray wolves.