Genetic data indicate that wolves no longer migrating from Russia

Russian Karelia is not a bottomless spring for refreshing wolf population

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By Tapio Mainio in Oulu
     
      According to a recent genetics study, Finland is no longer getting the necessary new bloodlines in its wolf population from across the border in Russian Karelia.
      Until now it had been believed that Karelia was an endless source of wolves, from which animals would come to fill empty habitats in Finland if the attrition from hunting became too heavy.
      As of the present, there are thought to be between 300 and 350 wolves in Russian Karelia, where the figure in the 1970s was twice this at 600-700. The Finnish wolf stock has dwindled to something in excess of 200 animals.
     
The wolf population in Russia has been hit by the double blow of increased hunting and shortage of prey, since mapping based on tracks has indicated that the elk population has declined at much the same rate as that of the wolves.
      The information is revealed in material collected by the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute (RKTL) and by Russian scientists, which has been studied at the University of Oulu.
     
“On the Russian side, the genetic material shedding light on the origin of the wolves and their relationships one with another is taken from tissue samples of shot wolves. In Finland, these studies are complemented by samples of fur and by saliva samples taken from wolves when they were anaesthetised for the attachment of radio tracking collars”, explains Jouni Aspi, senior curator at the Zoological Museum of Oulu University, who has headed the research there.
      “It was quite a surprise to discover just how insignificant the Russian connection has become. There has also been a distinct decline in the exchange of wolves between the Karelian and Archangel areas", says Aspi.
     
In order to preserve the genetic diversity of the wolf population, Aspi believes it would be necessary to have at least one migrating wolf coming from Russia every three or four years.
      “A few years ago there was a tagged and collared female called Niina who wandered across from the Trondheim region of Norway, but she was shot rather promptly in the reindeer herding area of Northern Finland”, says Aspi.
      Wolves in Sweden and Norway face much the same problems. They need new bloodlines from Finland or Russia to prevent inbreeding among their populations.
      “Finland will now have to find ways of planning the maintenance of the wolf population based only on homegrown stock”, says researcher Ilpo Kojola from RKTL, who is engaged on studies of large carnivores such as bear, lynx, wolverine, and wolf.
     
After a long and drawn-out dispute, this spring the European Union commissioners accepted the idea of wolf hunting in Finland, since the plan for the creatures provides adequate safeguards for their protection.
      At the same time, the Finnish wolf population has moved in increasing numbers from the traditional areas of the north and east into central and southern parts of the country.
     
Among animal researchers and zoologists, there has also been occasional talk of forced migration of the wolves.
      At one time, wolverines were moved from Lapland and the eastern province of Kainuu to new habitats in Ostrobothnia.
      According to genetic studies, the moves did not produce the desired results.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 17.8.2008

More on this subject:
 BACKGROUND: "Today's special at the Wolf's Nest is..."
 Wolf-collar heads for Haparanda and Sweden

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Small wolf population faced with danger of inbreeding (15.4.2008)
  Scientists baffled by disappearance of wolves from Finnish forests (7.4.2008)
  The life and times of a lonely GPS wolf (14.4.2004)

Links:
  Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute (RKTL): Monitoring Wildlife Populations

TAPIO MAINIO / Helsingin Sanomat
tapio.mainio@hs.fi