PR (Wolf 2020): 095 - Characteristics of exploited wolf populations.

The effectiveness of aerial wolf survey techniques was evaluated in Game Management Units (W's) 20A and 13. Results indicated that under certain conditions, aerial wolf surveys can provide reasonably accurate estimates of wolf numbers in the types of habitat typical of Southcentral and Interior Alaska. Most important of these conditions are the presence of an adequate amount of fresh snow and sunlight, and the use of pilots and observers possessing the ability to identify, interpret, and follow wolf tracks observed from the air. In relatively level terrain, flight transects about six miles (10km) apart appear to be adequate to detect the presence of wolf packs under present ecological conditions in Alaska. In more broken terrain, waterways and ridge systems should be followed most closely with the average distance between flight lines also being about six miles (10km) or less. Results of an extensive survey and control effort in subunit 20A during early 1976 suggested that previous survey estimates tended to be slightly conservative. It appears that the wolf population in subunit 20A has been relatively stable since 1973, numbering about 200 individuals in late winter.