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55-492: The Arctic wolf is present in the peninsula. The northern shore facing the Lincoln sea slopes evenly and is fertile for the area, being the northernmost limit of certain plant species. Nansen Land was named after Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930) at the time of Knud Rasmussen 's Thule expeditions . American geologist William E. Davies called the wider range north of J.P. Koch Fjord and Frederick E. Hyde Fjord

110-684: A branch of the De Long Fjord system. The peninsula is cut by faults roughly from east to west. To the southeast lies the Hans Tausen Ice Cap and to the south the Sirius Pass , a broad valley connecting J.P. Koch Fjord in the west and Brainard Sund in the east in the area where the peninsula is attached to the mainland and its ice cap . Northwestern Nansen Land is deeply indented on its Lincoln Sea shore. The main indentations are Jewell Fjord and Gardiner Fjord . The interior

165-518: A canine evolutionary biologist, stated that he believed that dogs were the first to have the mutation. He further stated that even if it originally arose in Eurasian wolves, it was passed on to dogs who, soon after their arrival, brought it to the New World and then passed it to wolves and coyotes. Black wolves with recent dog ancestry tend to retain black pigment longer as they age. As of 1999 in

220-510: A cheek. A number of incidents involving aggressive wolves have occurred in Alert, Nunavut , where the wolves have lived in close proximity to the local weather station for decades and became habituated to humans. One of these wolves attacked 3 people, was shot, and tested positive for rabies. Very little is known about the movement of the Arctic wolves, mainly due to climate. The only time at which

275-516: A dog identified in the language of the day as a "Pomeranian", although it may have differed from the modern Pomeranian breed. The union resulted in a litter of nine pups. Wolfdogs were occasionally purchased by English noblemen, who viewed them as a scientific curiosity. Wolfdogs were popular exhibits in British menageries and zoos. Six breeds of dog exist that acknowledge a significant amount of recent wolf-dog admixture in their creation. One breed

330-412: A few generations). However, the offspring of poodles with either coyotes and jackals , all showed a decrease in fertility, significant communication problems, and an increase of genetic diseases after three generations of interbreeding between the hybrids. The researchers therefore concluded that domestic dogs and wolves are the same species. Wolfdogs display a wide variety of appearances, ranging from

385-400: A mutation that entered the wolf population through admixture with the domestic dog. Adolph Murie was among the first wolf biologists to speculate that the wide color variation in wolves was due to interbreeding with dogs; "I suppose that some of the variability exhibited in these wolves could have resulted from crossings in the wild with dogs. Such crosses in the wild have been reported and

440-532: A resemblance to dogs without wolf blood to animals that are often mistaken for full-blooded wolves. A lengthy study by DEFRA and the RSPCA found several examples of misrepresentation by breeders and indeterminate levels of actual wolf pedigree in many animals sold as wolfdogs. The report noted that uneducated citizens misidentify dogs with wolf-like appearance as wolfdogs. Wolfdogs tend to have somewhat smaller heads than pure wolves, with larger, pointier ears that lack

495-639: A specimen from Melville Island in the Queen Elizabeth Islands , Canada. He wrote that similar wolves could be found on Ellesmere Island. He also attributed the name Canis lupus orion to a Greenland wolf specimen from Cape York , northwest Greenland. Both wolves are recognized as separate subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005). A study by Chambers et al . (2012) using autosomal microsatellite DNA and Mitochondrial DNA data indicate that

550-506: A wolf to a dog are not predictable, similar to that of mixed-breed dogs . In many cases the resulting adult wolfdog may be larger than either of its parents due to the genetic phenomenon of heterosis (commonly known as hybrid vigor ). Breeding experiments in Germany with poodles and wolves, and later on with the resulting wolfdogs showed unrestricted fertility, mating via free choice and no significant problems of communication (even after

605-401: Is least concern , but it does face threats. In 1997, there was a decline in the Arctic wolf population and its prey, muskoxen ( Ovibos moschatus ), and Arctic hares ( Lepus arcticus ). This was due to unfavourable weather conditions during the summers for four years. Arctic wolf populations recovered the next summer when weather conditions returned to normal. Wolfdog A wolfdog

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660-526: Is a canine produced by the mating of a domestic dog ( Canis familiaris ) with a gray wolf ( Canis lupus ), eastern wolf ( Canis lycaon ), red wolf ( Canis rufus ), or Ethiopian wolf ( Canis simensis ) to produce a hybrid . There are a range of experts who believe that they can tell the difference between a wolf, a dog, and a wolfdog, but they have been proven to be incorrect when providing their evidence before courts of law. Admixture between domestic dogs and other subspecies of gray wolves are

715-430: Is a medium-sized subspecies, distinguished from the northwestern wolf by its smaller size, its whiter colouration, its narrower braincase , and larger carnassials . Since 1930, there has been a progressive reduction in size in Arctic wolf skulls, which is likely the result of wolf-dog hybridization . In 1935, the British zoologist Reginald Pocock attributed the subspecies name Canis lupus arctos (Arctic wolf) to

770-420: Is debate whether the muskox or the Arctic hare is the primary prey for the hare-wolf-muskox predator-prey system. Studies provide evidence that the muskoxen are indeed their primary prey because wolf presence and reproduction seems to be higher when muskox is more available than higher hare availability. More supporting evidence suggests that muskoxen provide long-term viability and other ungulates do not appear in

825-452: Is discussed. According to one study, muskox calves serve as a primary food source because the needs of pups are greater but another study suggests that "when hares were much more plentiful (Mech, 2000), wolves commonly fed them to their pups during summer." These differences may be attributed to location as well. Polar bears are rarely encountered by wolves, though there are two records of wolf packs killing polar bear cubs. The Arctic wolf

880-465: Is mountainous and partly glaciated . Elevations reaching 1,320 metres (4,331 ft) are found in the central part of the peninsula. This Greenland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Arctic wolf The Arctic wolf ( Canis lupus arctos ), also known as the white wolf , polar wolf , and the Arctic grey wolf , is a subspecies of grey wolf native to

935-460: Is no available information of the wolves' movements where the muskoxen were. In the wild, Arctic wolves primarily prey on muskoxen and Arctic hares . They have also been found to prey on lemmings , caribou , Arctic foxes , birds, and beetles. It has been also found that Arctic wolves scavenge through garbage. This sort of food source will not always be found in the Arctic wolf's diet because of regional and seasonal availability. Sometimes there

990-410: Is the "wolamute", a.k.a. "malawolf", a cross between an Alaskan Malamute and a timber wolf . Four breeds were the result of intentional crosses with German Shepherd Dogs and have distinguishing characteristics of appearance that may reflect the varying subspecies of wolf that contributed to their foundation stock. Other, more unusual crosses have occurred; recent experiments in Germany were conducted in

1045-463: Is thought to be due to them seeing humans so little, and they will approach humans cautiously and curiously. Otto Sverdrup wrote that during the Fram expedition , a pair of wolves shadowed one of his teammates, who kept them at a distance by waving his ski pole. In 1977, a pair of scientists were approached by six wolves on Ellesmere Island, with one animal leaping at one of the scientists and grazing

1100-868: The Czech Republic . It was originally bred from lines of German Shepherds with Carpathian grey wolves . It was officially recognized as a national breed in Czechoslovakia in 1982, and later was recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale , the American Kennel Club 's Foundation Stock Service and the United Kennel Club , and today is used in agility, obedience, search and rescue, police work, therapy work, and herding in Europe and

1155-866: The FCI are the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog and the Saarloos Wolfdog . Whole genome sequencing has been used to study gene flow between wild and domestic species. There is evidence of widespread gene-flow from dogs into wolf populations, and very few deliberate crossings of wolves with dogs, such as the Saarloos Wolfdog . However, the global dog population forms a genetic cluster with little evidence for gene flow from wolves into dogs. Ancient DNA shows that dogs from Europe over 5,000 years ago also show little evidence of interbreeding with wild canids. A 1982 study of canine skulls from Wyoming dating back 10,000 years ago identified some that match

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1210-539: The High Arctic tundra of Canada's Queen Elizabeth Islands , from Melville Island to Ellesmere Island . Unlike some populations that move between tundra and forest regions, Arctic wolves spend their entire lives north of the northern treeline . Their distribution to south is limited to the northern fringes of the Middle Arctic tundra on the southern half of Prince of Wales and Somerset Islands . It

1265-503: The Mexican Wolf Arizona Reintroduction , controversy arose when a captive pack at Carlsbad designated for release was found by Roy McBride to be largely composed of wolf-dogs, who had captured many wolves for the recovery programme in the 1970s. Though staff initially argued that the animals' odd appearance was due to captivity and diet, it was later decided to euthanise them. In 2018, a study compared

1320-547: The Osogovo mountainous region along the border between Bulgaria and North Macedonia a putative grey wolf was recorded by camera to be living with a pack of 10 feral dogs, and by its behaviour and phenotype was assumed to be a wolf-dog hybrid. The wolfdog has been the center of controversy for much of its history, and most breed-specific legislation is either the result of the animal's perceived danger or its categorization as protected native wildlife. The Humane Society of

1375-495: The Saarloos wolfdog . The breed was created to be a hardy, self-reliant companion and house dog. The Dutch Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1975. To honor its creator they changed the name to "Saarloos Wolfdog". In 1981, the breed was recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI). In the 1950s, the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog was also created to work on border patrol in the countries now known as Slovakia and

1430-613: The South African Defence Force commenting that the animals are capable of biting through the toughest padding "like a knife through butter". Tests undertaken in the Perm Institute of Interior Forces in Russia demonstrated that high wolf-content wolfdogs took 15–20 seconds to track down a target in training sessions, whereas ordinary police dogs took 3–4 minutes. The scientific evidence to support

1485-535: The "Nansen-Jensen Alps", with the westernmost foothills in Nansen Land, stretching past the De Long Fjord area across Roosevelt Land and the Roosevelt Range , and reaching all the way to Johannes V. Jensen Land in the east. Nansen Land is located to the northeast of Freuchen Land , east of Sverdrup Island , and west of Borup Island and Amundsen Land . The westernmost headland is Cape Payer and

1540-687: The Arctic wolf has no unique haplotypes which suggests that its colonization of the Arctic Archipelago from the North American mainland was relatively recent, and thus not sufficient to warrant subspecies status. During a meeting assembled in 2014 by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service , one speaker, Robert K. Wayne, mentioned he disagreed with

1595-884: The United States , the RSPCA , Ottawa Humane Society , the Dogs Trust , and the Wolf Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission consider wolfdogs to be wild animals and therefore unsuitable as pets, and support an international ban on the private possession, breeding, and sale of wolfdogs. According to the National Wolfdog Alliance, 40 U.S. states effectively forbid the ownership, breeding, and importation of wolfdogs, while others impose some form of regulation upon ownership. In Canada,

1650-481: The United States, over 100,000 wolfdogs exist. In first-generation wolfdogs, gray wolves are most often crossed with wolf-like dogs (such as German Shepherd Dogs , Siberian Huskies , and Alaskan Malamutes ) for an appearance most appealing to owners desiring an exotic pet . The first record of wolfdog breeding in Great Britain comes from the year 1766 when what is thought was a male wolf mated with

1705-532: The United States. The Volkosob ( Russian : Волкособ , plural: Волкособы , Volkosoby ) was initially developed in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union . Russian border guards wanted a dog that would possess the trainability and pack mentality of the German Shepherd, combined with the strength, superior senses and cold-resistance of a wild wolf, able to cope in the harsh conditions of

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1760-432: The behavior of the parent animals. Thus, though the behavior of a single individual wolfdog may be predictable, the behavior of the type as a whole is not. Due to the variability inherent to their admixture, whether a wolf–dog cross should be considered more dangerous than a dog depends on behavior specific to the individual alone rather than to wolfdogs as a group. The view that aggressive characteristics are inherently

1815-516: The claims by wolfdog researchers is minimal, and more research has been called for. Wolfdogs are generally said to be naturally healthy animals, and are affected by fewer inherited diseases than most breeds of dog. Wolfdogs are usually healthier than either parent due to heterosis . There is some controversy over the effectiveness of the standard dog/cat rabies vaccine on a wolfdog. The USDA has not to date approved any rabies vaccine for use in wolfdogs, though they do recommend an off-label use of

1870-469: The conclusion that a subspecies had to be genetically distinct, believing that different subspecies could slowly grade into each other - suggesting that although it was impossible to determine if an individual wolf was one subspecies or the next using DNA, the population of Arctic wolves as a whole could be distinguished by the looking at the proportions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP): i.e. Arctic wolves could be distinguished by having three wolves in

1925-401: The crossing of wolves and Poodles . The intent behind creating the breeds has ranged widely from simply the desire for a recognizable companion high-content wolfdog to professional military working dogs. In 1932, Dutch breeder Leendert Saarloos crossed a male German Shepherd dog with a female European wolf . He then bred the female offspring back with the male German Shepherd, creating

1980-426: The dense fur commonly seen in those of wolves. Fur markings also tend to be very distinctive and not well blended. Black-colored wolfdogs tend to retain black pigment longer as they age, compared to black wolves. In some cases, the presence of dewclaws on the hind feet is considered a useful, but not absolute, indicator of dog gene contamination in wild wolves. Dewclaws are the vestigial first toes, which are common on

2035-492: The former Soviet Union. Wild wolfdogs were occasionally hunted by European aristocracy, and were termed lycisca to distinguish them from common wolves. Noted historic cases (such as the Beast of Gévaudan ) of large wolves that were abnormally aggressive toward humans, may be attributable to wolf-dog mating. In Europe, unintentional mating of dogs and wild wolves have been confirmed in some populations through genetic testing . As

2090-634: The genetic composition of the wolf population." In 2008, it was discovered that a gene mutation responsible for the protein beta-defensin 3 is responsible for the black coat color in dogs. The same mutation was responsible for black wolves in North America and the Italian Apennines , with the mutation having arisen in dogs 13,000 to 120,000 years ago, with a preferred date of 47,000 years ago after comparing large sections of wolf, dog, and coyote genomes . Robert K. Wayne,

2145-400: The hind legs of domestic dogs but thought absent from pure wolves, which only have four hind toes. Observations on wild wolfdogs in the former Soviet Union indicate that in a wild state these may form larger packs than pure wolves, and have greater endurance when chasing prey. High wolf-content wolfdogs typically have longer canine teeth than dogs of comparable size, with some officers in

2200-568: The morphology of wolfdogs. This study was rebutted as not providing convincing evidence four years later. In 2010, archeologists found the remains of wolf-dogs in a warrior's burial in Mexico's central valley that date about two thousand years ago, therefore what was once thought as coyotes depicted in Teotihuacan civilization art are being re-examined. Genetic research revealed that wolves with black pelts owe their distinctive coloration to

2255-567: The most common wolfdogs since dogs and gray wolves are considered the same species, are genetically very close and have shared vast portions of their ranges for millennia. Such admixture in the wild have been detected in many populations scattered throughout Europe and North America, usually occurring in areas where wolf populations have declined from human impacts and persecutions. At the same time, wolfdogs are also often bred in captivity for various purposes. A mixture of dogs and two other North American wolf species have also occurred historically in

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2310-548: The northernmost headland is Cape Mohn , the northern end of an island at the entrance of De Long Fjord , separated from Nansen Land by a narrow sound. The peninsula is bounded to the west by the Mascart Sund , to the southwest by the J.P. Koch Fjord and to the east by the Brainard Sund ( 82°57′N 41°40′W  /  82.950°N 41.667°W  / 82.950; -41.667 ) and Thomas Thomsen Fjord ,

2365-437: The provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island prohibit wolfdogs as pets. Most European nations have either outlawed the animal entirely or put restrictions on ownership. Wolfdogs were among the breeds banned from the U.S. Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton and elsewhere after a fatal dog attack by a pit bull on a child. The physical characteristics of an animal created by breeding

2420-449: The putative population with a specific SNP, whereas another subspecies could be distinguished by having 20 wolves with that SNP. Wayne furthermore stated that he believed the habitat in which the wolf happened to be found was a good enough characteristic to distinguish a subspecies. The Arctic wolf is relatively unafraid of people, and can be coaxed to approach people in some areas. The wolves on Ellesmere Island do not fear humans, which

2475-613: The same mitochondrial haplotypes in Georgia . More than 13% of the studied wolves had detectable dog ancestry and more than 10% of the dogs had detectable wolf ancestry. The results of the study suggest that admixture between wolves and dogs is a common event in the areas where large livestock guardian dogs are held in a traditional way, and that gene flow between dogs and gray wolves was an important force influencing gene pool of dogs for millennia since early domestication events. Hybridization between wolves and dogs typically occurs when

2530-438: The sequences of 61,000  single-nucleotide polymorphisms ( mutations ) taken from across the genome of grey wolves. The study indicated that there exists individual wolves of dog-wolf ancestry in most of the wolf populations of Eurasia, but less so in North America. The admixture has been occurring across different time scales and was not a recent event. Low-level admixture did not reduce the wolf distinctiveness. In 2019, in

2585-403: The survival of some Continental European wolf packs is severely threatened, scientists fear that the creation of wolfdog populations in the wild is a threat to the continued existence of European wolf populations. However, extensive admixture between wolf and dog is not supported by morphological evidence, and analyses of mtDNA sequences have revealed that such mating are rare. In 1997, during

2640-569: The three wolf species in North America have also mixed with coyotes in the wild, it has been speculated by some biologists that some of the coywolf hybrids in the northeastern third of the continent may also have both coydogs and wolfdogs in their gene pool. Hybrids between dogs and Ethiopian wolves discovered in the Ethiopian Highlands likely originated from past interactions between free-roaming feral dogs and Ethiopian wolves living in isolated areas. Recognized wolfdog breeds by

2695-452: The vaccine. Wolfdog owners and breeders purport that the lack of official approval is a political move to prevent condoning wolfdog ownership. Wolfdogs are a mixture of genetic traits, which results in less predictable behavior patterns compared to either the wolf or dog. The adult behavior of wolfdog pups also cannot be predicted with comparable certainty to dog pups, even in third-generation pups produced by wolfdog mating with dogs or from

2750-497: The vast Russian borders. In 2000, a Caspian Steppe Wolf , noted for being unusually friendly and cooperative towards humans, was bred with German Shepherds of an East European Shepherd line, until an F3 generation was standardised. Unlike the previous hybrids, the Volkosob was the only breed that was an effective border guardian as they are renowned for not being too shy. A 2014 study found that 20% of wolves and 37% of dogs shared

2805-409: The wild, although it is often difficult for biologists to discriminate the dog genes in the eastern timber and red wolves from the gray wolf genes also present in these wolf species due to their historical overlaps with North American gray wolves as well as with coyotes, both of which have introgressed into the eastern timber and red wolf gene pools. At the same time, because many isolated populations of

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2860-503: The wolf in captivity crosses readily with dogs. Some years ago at Circle, Alaska, a wolf hung around the settlement for some time and some of the dogs were seen with it. The people thought that the wolf was a female attracted to the dogs during the breeding period. However, considerable variability is probably inherent in the species, enough perhaps to account for the variations noted in the park and in skins examined. The amount of crossing with dogs has probably not been sufficient to alter much

2915-466: The wolf migrates is during the wintertime when there is complete darkness for 24 hours. This makes Arctic wolf movement hard to research. About 2,250 km (1,400 mi) south of the High Arctic, a wolf movement study took place in the wintertime in complete darkness, when the temperature was as low as −53 °C (−63 °F). The researchers found that wolves prey mainly on the muskoxen . There

2970-489: The wolf population is under strong hunting pressure and its structure is disrupted due to a high number of free-ranging dogs . Wolves typically display aggressiveness toward dogs, but a wolf can change its behaviour and become playful or submissive when it becomes socially isolated. Admixture in the wild usually occurs near human habitations where wolf density is low and dogs are common. However, there were several reported cases of wolfdogs in areas with normal wolf densities in

3025-427: The wolf's diet. Evidence suggesting that Arctic wolves depend more on hares claims that the mature wolf population paralleled the increase of hares rather than muskoxen availability. The study goes on to say that degree of reliance between the two sources of food is uncertain and that the amount of consumption between the two species depends on the season and year. Debate continues when seasonal and diet of young wolves

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