Eastern Timber Wolf
Canis lupis lycaon
The eastern timber wolf (Canis lupus lycaon) is a potential species designation under debate by the scientific community. According to the International Wolf Center, "C. lupus and the potential C. lycaon are indistinguishable from each other physically, behaviorally and ecologically. The only way to tell the difference between them is a genetic test and comparison. Both inhabit the western Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan."
Habitat and Range
The eastern timber wolf has occupied most habitats and topography except deserts and high mountaintops, including forest edges, swamp borders, second growth boreal forests, and areas interspersed with fields and woodland openings. The eastern timber wolf was virtually exterminated by the early 1900s throughout its historic range in the northeastern United States. Although there are unconfirmed sightings of wolves in Vermont and Maine, and a confirmed shooting of a wolf in Maine in 1993, there is no evidence of breeding activity in the region.
Diet
Generally the primary prey base for the eastern timber wolf is white-tail deer, moose, and beaver.
Conservation
The northeastern United States provides suitable wolf habitat with over 26 million acres of northern forest from Adirondack State Park in Upstate New York through the North Woods of Maine. In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 1992 Eastern Timber wolf Recovery Plan identified Adirondack State Park and 2 areas of New England as possible recovery areas for this subspecies. Despite the availability of habitat and prey, natural recolonization is unlikely due to many landscape barriers, including the St. Lawrence Seaway and extensive urban areas.