Industrial development is helping coyotes move into wolverine country and edge out the rare carnivore despite its fierce reputation, newly published research suggests.

B次元官网网址淩oads and seismic lines were actually driving competition between wolverines and coyotes,B次元官网网址� said Gillian Chow-Fraser of the University of Victoria, lead author of the paper published in the journal Biological Conservation.

Chow-Fraser said itB次元官网网址檚 another example of how human activities on a landscape have far-reaching consequences for all the animals living on it.

B次元官网网址淲e see them changing the animal community in all sorts of ways.B次元官网网址�

Chow-Fraser, her university colleagues, and the Alberta government examined data from 154 camera traps collected in 2006-08 and 2011-13 from two areas of the province B次元官网网址� the relatively untouched Willmore Wilderness Area and Kananaskis Country, which is heavily laced by roads and cutlines from forestry, energy and recreational development.

Altogether, the study analyzes data from 2,790 weeks of camera deployment.

Coyotes and wolverines have different habitats and wouldnB次元官网网址檛 normally interact, Chow-Fraser said.

But, as development clears pathways into the boreal forest and foothills of the Rockies, now they do.

B次元官网网址淚t was increasing the odds they co-occur in an area,B次元官网网址� Chow-Fraser said.

The data showed that on a road or cutline, the two animals were three times more likely to show up at the same spot within a week of each other than elsewhere.

Wolverines are fierce beasts and Chow-Fraser doesnB次元官网网址檛 suggest coyotes are beating them fang-to-fang. ItB次元官网网址檚 more a case of coyotes, with their superior numbers, using up resources wolverines could once count on for themselves and their kits.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e talking about a competition for resources or space,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of coyotes and theyB次元官网网址檙e outcompeting wolverines in these places where thereB次元官网网址檚 high density of linear features.B次元官网网址�

Other predators such as wolves, cougars or bears arenB次元官网网址檛 the problem, Chow-Fraser said. Those animals feed differently and donB次元官网网址檛 compete with wolverines.

Wolverines are considered a B次元官网网址渄ata deficientB次元官网网址� animal in Alberta. The provinceB次元官网网址檚 most recent population estimate B次元官网网址� now 20 years old B次元官网网址� is fewer than 1,000 animals.

B次元官网网址淭he Alberta population is considered to be declining at an unknown rate,B次元官网网址� says AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 fact sheet on wolverines.

A 2020 study by the Alberta Conservation Association for the provincial government concludes there are no B次元官网网址渞obustB次元官网网址� population estimates for wolverines across the vast majority of its habitat.

B次元官网网址淚n 2022, Environment and Parks will be reviewing new information and data available on wolverines to determine if an updated status evaluation should be conducted,B次元官网网址� said department spokesman Jason Penner.

Federally, wolverines have been listed as a species of special concern since 2014. That status under the Species At Risk Act doesnB次元官网网址檛 compel governments to develop a recovery plan for the animal.

B次元官网网址淭here really needs to be a reassessment of wolverine numbers in Alberta,B次元官网网址� Chow-Fraser said. B次元官网网址淲e definitely need to start taking the status of wolverines more seriously.B次元官网网址�

The study shows how human intervention on a landscape creates new circumstances that change how species have interacted for millennia. Chow-Fraser compares the wolverine situation to that of caribou, now suffering from wolf predation because roads and cutlines have opened the way into the deep forest.

B次元官网网址淲e need to think about how industrial development is fundamentally changing the wildlife community.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擝ob Weber, The Canadian Press