960 ENGAGE What happened when wolves were introduced to

Last updated: 5/14/2023

960 ENGAGE What happened when wolves were introduced to Coronation Island Coronation Island is a small island 116 km off the Alaskan coast A resident black tailed deer population had overgrazed the island and as a result very little forest understory remained and many common plant species were absent The forest was quite open and park like and not dense like a typical South Alaskan forest Researchers noted that the deer on the island were smaller than those in other populations and that several died each year from malnutrition In 1960 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game released two breeding pairs of timberwolves onto the island Their aim was to control the black tailed deer top right which had been overgrazing the land Initially wolves fed off the deer lower right bred successfully and deer numbers fell The island s vegetation began to return and by 1964 the vegetation was quite abundant However within a few years the deer population crashed The wolves ran out of food deer and began eating each other causing a drop in wolf numbers Within 8 years only one wolf remained on the island and the deer were once again abundant By 1983 wolves were absent and the deer numbers were high Coronation Island FF Two breeding pairs of wolves introduced Black tailed deer Gray well consuming deer Pre 1960 1960 1964 No wolves Abundant deer Wolves introduced Abundant deer 1968 1 wolf Abundant deer 13 wolves Few deer 1 Work in pairs to evaluate the introduction of wolves to Coronation Island What did it show Was it a success 2 If the experiment was carried out at a larger scale on a bigger island with more resources do you think the outcome would have been different What is your reasoning