Rainforest Wolves of Alaska's Alexander Archipelago

Written By Katrina Liebich

Southeast Alaska — it’s wet here. With more than 200 inches of precipitation each year, this is one of the rainiest places in the United States behind Mt. Waialeale on Hawaii’s Kauai Island and a few locations on Maui.

Home to one of only seven rare coastal temperate rainforests in the world, Alaska’s southeast “panhandle” is carpeted by old growth trees like Western and mountain hemlock, Sitka spruce, and Alaska yellow cedar.

There are wolves here too. A smaller, darker-colored variant linked to the rainforest environment that dens in cavities beneath the big root systems of very large, old trees. Their dens have three things in common: they’re located in old growth, on elevated ground (an important consideration in such wet conditions) and within 100 meters of freshwater. Because of this specificity, dens tend to get reused by new generations. Pups are born mid-April through early July.

The Islands Wolf: Canis lupis ligoni

Like other island goers, movement is limited. Compared to the large movements mainland living affords, Alexander Archipelago wolves must navigate the emergent tops of underwater mountains surrounded by deep watery fjords.

Over the course of their 6–8 year lifespan, they make a living pursuing the Sitka black-tailed deer (a smaller cousin of the mule deer), beavers, Pacific salmon and even waterfowl, seals, marine invertebrates, and the occasional black bear.

Genetic evidence suggests that Alexander Archipelago wolves (often also referred to as Pacific or coastal wolves in the scientific literature) are descended from the Great Plains wolf (canis lupus nubilus), a subspecies of gray wolf officially declared extinct in 1926. As the glaciers retreated, their ancestors followed the deer north. These island wolves are unique from the larger Interior Alaska (Yukon) variety that likely inhabited the Bering Land Bridge that connected what is now Alaska and Siberia during the ice age. There are at least six environmentally and genetically distinct North American grey wolf populations, including the wolves of Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago.

Islands are places where fragility and strength can coexist. Innovative ways of surviving emerge from tough living, and uniqueness arises. It slips between big old trees in the form of a small wolf.

In Alaska we are shared stewards of world-renowned natural resources and our nation’s last true wild places. Our hope is that each generation has the opportunity to live with, live from, discover, and enjoy the wildness of this awe-inspiring land and the people who love and depend on it.

Katrina Liebich is a fish nerd and piscivore stationed in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Alaska Office of External Affairs. She has a Biology degree from Virginia Tech and a Master’s & Ph.D. from Michigan State University’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. Katrina has lived in Anchorage, Alaska since 2010 and loves all the fish, fishing, and helping others develop connections with fish.