Category Archives: Ontario

Coyote/Wolf Hybrids in the East

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A recent study published in Molecular Ecology, which studied the hybridization between eastern wolves, gray wolves and coyotes in and around Algonquin Provincial Park (APP) in Ontario found that about 36 percent of the animals tested were hybrids of two or three of the three Canis types.

West of the park the genes tested switched sharply from eastern wolf to coyote and hybrids. South and northwest of the park, the genes were a bit more complicated. However, the most remote locations with the most moose also had the animals with greater wolf ancestry.

The eastern coyote is generally larger than its western counterpart, and it appears to behave differently, too. The genetics of the eastern coyote could help inform the management of coyotes in the region, so papers like this are worth noting.

Reading the article in Molecular Ecology requires a subscription or a fee, but you can access it here.

Photo: coyote, by Steve Thompson, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife

Swift Decline: Chimneys or Beetles?

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chimney swiftChimney swifts decline 95 percent in Canada between 1968 and 2005. After studying a six-foot deep pile of swift guano in a now-capped chimney on the campus of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, researchers believe that DDTs impact on the beetle population played an important role in the swifts’ decline.

Studying the hard remains of insects in the pile, they found that the birds switched from a diet rich in beetles to one where true bugs (which include cicadas and stink bugs) were dominant.The researchers believe the switch from the energy-rich beetles to the less caloric true bugs was the worst kind of crash diet.

Read the news brief in ScienceNow.
Read the paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (Open access.)

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

Chronic Wasting Disease Update

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CWD risk in Ontario

Three more cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) were confirmed in wild white-tailed deer in Missouri last week. These deer had been killed within two miles of the free-ranging deer found to have CWD last fall.

Read the Missouri Department of Conservation press release, here.

The situation in Virginia is similar. “Two new cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) have been detected very close to where CWD-infected deer were found in 2009 and 2010,” the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries press release says.

CWD has been found in mule deer in New Mexico for 10 years, but this year it was detected in deer not far from El Paso, Texas, which has the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on alert. Read an article about this in the Lonestar Outdoor News.

There’s no CWD in Ontario, Canada yet, but they are keeping an eye out for it, since it has been found in the neighboring US states of New York, Minnesota and Michigan. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources recently released a seven-page report about its surveillance program. (Be forewarned, that link will pop up a sizable PDF.)