Wolves use diverse tactics to track partially migratory prey

Some predators move long distances to track migratory prey.1,2,3 This phenomenon, known as migratory coupling,1 has been observed in wolves that track migratory caribou in the Arctic.4,5,6,7 By contrast, most wolves elsewhere are highly territorial and thought to be non-migratory-particularly during the denning and pup-rearing season.8,9 Recent advances in wildlife tracking have illuminated widespread individual variation in seasonal movements of partially migratory prey,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18 but little is known about how wolves respond to such varied behaviors. Using concurrent GPS data (2019-2021) from 19 gray wolves (Canis lupus) and 99 elk (Cervus canadensis) from a large, partially migratory herd in the eastern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, we quantified wolf movement strategies based on overlaps between wolf packs' seasonal ranges and between wolf and elk summer ranges. We found that wolves exhibited a range of movement responses, including migrating, commuting, and remaining resident. Additionally, some packs moved pups from den sites to rendezvous sites along elk migration routes, or even within elk summer range, challenging the long-accepted notion that juvenile carnivores act as spatial anchors. The diverse strategies wolves employ to track migratory prey highlight how the plasticity and variation of migratory behaviors in their ungulate prey can translate to dynamic wolf space use. This suggests that changes in ungulate mobility-for instance, due to climate or land-use change-may reverberate across trophic levels, reshaping predator movement patterns and influencing broader ecosystem dynamics.