Maine Wolf Coalition

K9 Scout's first project is to help out with an ongoing project initiated by the Maine Wolf Coalition.  The Maine Wolf Coalition formed in 1994 with the goal of supporting and protecting wild wolves who might be naturally repopulating the American Northeast region.  There have been at least 8 instances of wolves being killed in New York and New England states since the 1980s.  Maine Wolf Coalition works to educate the public about the role of Wolfs as a keystone species and Apex predator.  In addition, they do research and work toward legal protections for Wolves.

Starting in 2017, they began a project to collect scat and trail camera footage in order to better understand the wild canids in Maine and to learn their genetic make-up. The goals of the project included the collection of 100 scat samples to send in for genetic analysis.  These scat samples are currently being looked at by two universities to better understand the genetics of the canids in the region!

You can watch this video to learn more about the project by watch this video

The Search for Wolves in Maine

But this is just the start of the project!  Scat collection will continue as we continue to learn about the canids who currently live in the Northeast and see how the population changes over time. Wolves are a keystone species that contribute to tropic cascade (changes in the behavior of other animals in relation to the food web).  

Scout's participation in this project will hopefully expand the range of scat collection, as well as make detection more through as dogs can smell samples that humans miss when making visual surveys.

If you want to learn more about the important work that Maine Wolf Coalition is doing, please follow them on Facebook and visit their website.