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Published on: August 8, 2017
Demographic effects of canine parvovirus on a free-ranging wolf population over 30 years
L David Mech1, Sagar M Goyal, William J Paul
1US Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, North Dakota 58401-7317, USA. david_mech@usgs.gov
Abstract:
We followed the course of canine parvovirus (CPV) antibody prevalence in a subpopulation of wolves (Canis lupus) in northeastern Minnesota from 1973, when antibodies were first detected, through 2004. Annual early pup survival was reduced by 70%, and wolf population change was related to CPV antibody prevalence. In the greater Minnesota population of 3,000 wolves, pup survival was reduced by 40-60%. This reduction limited the Minnesota wolf population rate of increase to about 4% per year compared with increases of 16-58% in other populations. Because it is young wolves that disperse, reduced pup survival may have caused reduced dispersal and reduced recolonization of new range in Minnesota.
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