The eastern wolf has generally been classified as belonging to the Eurasian-evolved gray wolf (Canis lupus), with the subspecies Canis lupus lycaon occupying the deciduous forests of eastern North America^1,2,3. The eastern wolf was recently proposed as a separate species (Canis lycaon) that evolved in North America and shared a common lineage with the coyote (Canis latrans) until about150,000 - 300,000 years ago⁴. It has thus been suggested that the eastern wolf evolved in North America independently from the gray wolf, which is believed to have immigrated to North America during the Pleistocene glaciations approximately 300,000 years ago⁵. For genetic research on North American canids, the term Old World (OW) is therefore used for genotypes that group with the gray wolf, whereas New World (NW) genotypes denote those belonging to coyotes, eastern wolves and red wolves.

The range of the eastern wolf is not well delineated, but its known range in Canada extends from Manitoba to Quebec^1,6, and may also include several of the Great Lakes states of the US. It has also been proposed that the eastern wolf and the red wolf (Canis rufus) of the eastern United States may be the same species⁶, in which case the range of this canid would extend further south and east, including North Carolina where the red wolf was reintroduced in 1987⁷ after being officially declared extinct in the wild in 1980.

The eastern wolf is currently listed as a Species of Concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), and major limiting factors are considered to be prey availability and harvest (trapping and hunting) mortality⁸. Much of the eastern wolf range has been affected by intense human development, where the replacement of large ungulates with smaller and medium-sized prey such as beavers (Castor canadensis) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) may have played, and continue to play, an important role in canid hybridization^9,10,11.

The eastern wolf hybridizes with both gray wolves and coyotes, with gray wolf-eastern wolves being frequent in northern Ontario and with eastern wolf – coyote hybrids being more common in southeastern Ontario¹². This hybridization may be both historic and ongoing, and Wilson et al. (2009) suggest that eastern wolves may in fact be replacing gray wolves through part of their range. The history and causes of hybridization involving C.latrans, C. lycaon and C.lupus is currently debated¹³ and have important implication for conservation management, species at risk-designations, as well as any future wolf reintroduction programs within the hybrid zone.

Prepared for the Canadian Wolf Coalition by Astrid Vik Stronen, 2009.

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