Wisconsin, USA
Canid Howl Project

The Canid Howl Project are a research group dedicated to understanding more about the vocalisations of the Canidae family; specifically wolves, coyotes and dogs

This particular project focuses on wolves in Wisconsin, USA, with the aim being to show that wolves don’t always have to be tracked and monitored by expensive and intrusive GPS collars but instead by simply using their howls…

The team want to find out if by tracking howls they’re able to help reduce the instances of human/wolf conflict in areas where the wolves are returning to their historic home ranges which are now populated.

Who's Involved
Canid Howl Project
Profits from our shop have been used for this project
A NatureSpy Supported Project
Wild about wolves?
We support a wide range of projects around the world that either focus on wolves specifically or pick up lots of cool wolf images and videos along with their other captures.

There are also opportunities with some of our projects to get involved in helping us go through project data where you could be the first to spot some wolves on our cameras! Head to our project pages to discover more.
Go Find Some Wolves
Tracking wolves
Monitoring wolves by howls
How is NatureSpy helping?
  • The problem with tracking wolves... Is they cover a lot of ground and range great distances which means monitoring them with the use of GPS collars (which are expensive and can sometimes be stressful for the animal) can be tricky...
  • Why track wolves? They are starting to return to their historic ranges which are now populated with people and this is resulting in increased human/wolf conflict. Knowing where the wolves are can help put actions in place to prevent some of these conflicts occurring.
  • The groups aim is to show how wolves can be tracked non invasively; by using just howls to identify their presence. This is known as passive acoustic localisation.
  • How does that work? By recording howls on microphones at certain points it's possible to use the difference in the time of arrival of wolf howls at each device to triangulate the position of the wolf.
  • How will that help? By using the network of passive acoustic monitoring devices the team aim to be able to detect and track the movement of the wolves and predict the time and location of potential conflicts. By knowing this information, it would be possible to forewarn people about potential conflicts and then avoid them.
  • Everybody benefits. This would be a massive step for people and large predators being able to co-exist. If farmers for example, had early detection of wolf presence they could plan more effectively such as redistributing livestock guarding dogs and/or livestock and avoid conflict events. This means they don't lose out on livestock and the wolves wouldn't be persecuted.
  • The site Canid Howl Project are testing this method in is home to 3 wolf packs already well studied and monitoring by biologists. This means that they have a good idea of wolf rendezvous points, so will know where they wolves are coming together to socialise and howl!
  • These points are where camera traps are needed. The cameras will be set-up so the team can study the natural interactions of the wolves and gain much needed insight into behaviour during howling bouts. We're so exciting to be supporting Canid Howl Project by providing the trail cameras needed for this exciting research.

Project Updates
10/19
17/10/2019
Howl for the camera!
This is a guest post from new NatureSpy partners at the Canid Howl Project. NatureSpy is loaning the project 6 trail cameras to help monitor the wolves - hopefully allowing the researchers some additional insights and cool footage!
Camera Used
The Browning Spec Ops Advantage was used for its no-glow LEDs, great video quality and solid audio.
Take a closer look
Curious About Canid Howl Project?
Learn more about Canid Howl Project and the awesome research they're doing.
Visit Canid Howl Project
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