Several recent studies suggest that changes to the landscape caused by humans do alter how predators interact with their prey, but concrete evidence has been rare. Now, research supported by the ABMI confirms that human-made features like roads and seismic lines may serve as ‘highways’ for Grey Wolves by letting them travel farther and faster in their search for food. This changes the game for prey like the endangered Woodland Caribou—and that’s a big deal.
Researchers found that wolves chose to move through linear features when available, and that by doing so they could move two to three times faster than in natural forest. These factors combine to increase the wolves’ search rate, which essentially means they can increase their hunting efficiency. That’s great for wolves, but it could have serious consequences for Woodland Caribou.