Authors
Kevin M Podrunzy, Justin A Gude, George R Pauley, Michael S Mitchell, Elizabeth H Bradley, Nathan Lance, Kent J Laudon, Abigail A Nelson, Michael S Ross, Ty D Smucker
Publication date
2014/12/31
Journal
Intermountain Journal of Sciences
Volume
20
Issue
4 December
Pages
106-107
Description
From the early 1980s to present, wolf (Canis lupus) numbers in Montana have been documented by attempting to locate and count all individuals. These counts represented minimums with unknown error. We describe a method using observations by hunters, in conjunction with field monitoring to estimate wolf population size and distribution in a more systematic way. Our method consists of three general steps: 1) use a multi-season occupancy model to estimate the area occupied by wolves in packs using locations reported by a random sample of hunters, 2) estimate the numbers of wolf packs by dividing area occupied by average territory size from field monitoring, then 3) estimate the numbers of wolves by multiplying the number of estimated packs by average pack size from field monitoring. Estimated area occupied by packs increased between 2007 and 2012. From 2007 to 2009, mean estimated territory size …
Scholar articles
KM Podrunzy, JA Gude, GR Pauley, MS Mitchell… - Intermountain Journal of Sciences, 2014