Species Use Database

Wolf
Canis lupus

Used for Ceremony and ritual expression, Decorative and aesthetic, Recreation, Conservation Management and Damage mitigation in Alberta

A. Species

Scientific name: Canis lupus

Common name(s): Wolf

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Least Concern


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Alberta

Country/Region:


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: National Level

Name/Details of location: Alberta


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 1985

End Year: 2006


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Ceremony and ritual expression, Decorative and aesthetic, Recreation, Conservation Management and Damage mitigation

Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community), Recreational, Traditional/Cultural/Spiritual and Population/Area Management

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people and Non-local Internal


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: Statistical modelling

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: " Trapper harvest did not appear to have appreciable negative effects on the overall Alberta wolf population despite there being no quotas or bag limits for the species."

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

"Our study emphasizes usefulness of the registered trapline system facilitating management for wolves. The registered trapline system has arguably reduced variability in the population consequences of harvest by distributing trapper harvest over many individual RFMAs throughout the range of the species. As a consequence, trapping has not had a negative impact on the distribution or abundance of wolves in Alberta."


Record source

Information about the record source: scientific_pub

Date of publication/issue/production: 2010-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Robichaud, C.B. and Boyce, M.S., 2010. Spatial and temporal patterns of wolf harvest on registered traplines in Alberta, Canada. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 74(4), pp.635-643. https://doi.org/10.2193/2009-260

Date of record entry: 2023-04-18