Management of wolves (Canis lupus) in British Columbia, as with most other Canadian provinces, is conducted on a regional scale (38,557–252,776 km2), yet there is no standardized, cost-effective methodology for providing reliable estimates of wolf abundance at this scale. Therefore, we used periodic estimates of ungulate abundance and incorporated them into an ungulate biomass regression model to estimate wolf abundance on a regional and provincial (900,402 km2) scale over a 12-year period (2000–2011). In 2011, the provincial estimate was 8,688 (95% CI = 5,898–11,760) wolves (7–13 wolves/1,000 km2), while
regional wolf abundance estimates ranged from 149 (95% CI = 100–205) to 2,693 (95% CI = 1,818–3,608) with differences related to regional scale (km2) rather than wolf densities (4–15 wolves/1,000 km2). We
suggest the ungulate biomass regression model is useful to estimate the abundance of wolves for management purposes when precise estimates are not required and wolf populations are not heavily exploited or recovering.
KEY WORDS abundance, British Columbia, Canis lupus, ungulate biomass, wolves.