Endangered or not? Canis lupis is tossed to the wolves.

Darkfrog submitted, created time 2 months 3 weeks (www.nature.com)

There are two issues at hand regarding the gray wolf (Canis lupus). The first is the U.S. legal battle over whether the wolves should have and retain endangered status (hunting has recently resumed in a few midwestern states). The other is slightly different: scientists must form their own opinion about whether the gray wolf meets the criteria for "endangered." Some argue that the wolf populations have recovered. The key argument against this is that the wolves who have returned to the depleted areas may not be the same precise kind of wolf that was killed off during the twentieth century. Genetic studies suggest that they might be a mix of Canis lupus and Canis latrans, better known as the coyote.

Researchers at UCLA termed the original Canis lupus population the "Great lakes wolf," and claim that only 31% of the wolves around today are the same species.

In contrast, Tyler Wheeldon, a master's candidate at Trent University in Ontario, says that the matter should be looked at in terms of the whole ecosystem. The point of the restoration efforts, says Wheeldon, was to restore a "top predator which is not coyote-like. If you have recovered a population that is filling the role of wolf, we shouldn't worry if it's exactly what used to be there."

Keywords: coyotes Canis lupus genetics Canis latrans hybrids conservationgray wolf wolf endangered species Endangered Species Act wolves endangered mammalian species