ABSTRACT
Gray or timber wolves in North America are often elusive, occur in low densities, and travel extensively. Most wolves live in packs, and where their major prey, large ungulates, do not migrate, nonoverlapping pack territories may vary from 100 to 13,000 km. For more accurate wolf censuses, the number of all packs present in an area, along with the number of wolves in each pack and the number of lone wolves present, must be determined. Where packs are more territorial, repeated observations of wolves from the ground by government personnel and trappers on registered trap lines provide information on pack occurrences and numbers. A highly informative census method for wolves (also expensive and time consuming), is aerial radiotelemetry and observations. Wolves are captured, fitted with radio-transmitting collars, and repeatedly located throughout the year. In broken terrain, fly over watercourses, such as rivers or lakes, and over roads, trails and cutlines, and ridges, where wolves are likely to travel.
