Wolves are at the “top of their game” for only about a quarter of their life-
Wolves Lose Their Predatory Edge In Mid-life, Study Shows. Trent Consultants News. ASMSU Exponent.
Cougar are much better evolved for predation than wolves.
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is past President of the Western Watersheds Project.
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From Colorado; wolf-pack report raises doubts, fears
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14495306
Alan,
Thank you. I see the usual suspects at loosel
But will you put this in the “Have you read any interesting news section?”
I read this report and wasted my time. It doesn’t take rocket science to know that all mammals, including man, start to go physically downhill at midlife. These endless studies of wolves to gather useless information need to be stopped.
Larry
I must disagree. I think this is good research and good useful information. In particular, it’s evidence that wolves are in fact self-regulating and don’t need to be “controlled” by humans.
RH
I’m with Robert on this one. In fact, you might just as easily hypothesize that wolves would become better hunters in midlife, as they learn the best tactics for taking down prey. With this study we can discount the later hypothesis.
It also has interesting management implications, especially if wolf hunts lead to a disproportionate loss of older or younger wolves.
Something about this study doesn’t make sense. The same author found that as Yellowstone wolves get larger their hunting success increases. Perhaps, some very old/unhealthy wolves are skewing the data. Yellowstone wolves, like most populations, reach maximum body size around 5 years. In Scandinavia, where packs are mostly pairs and young pups, maximum hunting success is reached at 4.5-5.5 + years:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W9W-4KPX8XY-1&_user=10&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F2006&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1237265366&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=90443d16c77a55bd5737527edbc8177b
Interestingly, MacNulty referenced this study and cited 4 years as the result – which is understating the age of maximum hunting success a bit.