Short-term response of Gray Wolves, Canis lupus, to wildfire in northwestern Alaska

There is a paucity of data concerning the effects of wildfires on large carnivores.During summer 1988 a wildfire burned 845 km? of taiga forest within the territory of two radiocollared Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) packs in northwest Alaska.We contrasted their use of areas that were burned with areas that were not burned before, during, and after fire.Wolves used the area that was later burned disproportionately more than expected before the fire.During and after (i.e., remainder of summer) the fire, they used the burned area more than expected during summer, but as expected during winter.Three years after the fire wolves began using the burned area similarly to their use before the fire; up until that time, wolves used the burned area less than it had been used prior to the burn.We attributed the changes in wolf distribution to changes in ungulate availability which were probably caused by the wildfire.