The Labrador wolf (''Canis lupus labradorius'') is a

subspecies of gray wolf There are 38 subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' listed in the taxonomic authority ''Mammal Species of the World'' (2005, 3rd edition). These subspecies were named over the past 250 years, and since their naming, a number of them have gone extinct. T ...

native to

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

and northern

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

. It has been described as ranging in color from dark grizzly-gray to almost white,Glover, A. (1942)
''Extinct and vanishing mammals of the western hemisphere, with the marine species of all the oceans''
American Committee for International Wild Life Protection, p. 209. and of being closely related to the Newfoundland wolf (''C. l. beothucus''). This wolf is recognized as a subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' in the taxonomic authority ''

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

(2005)''.

History

Due to

over-hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

in the early 1900s, Labrador wolf sightings were infrequent through the 1950s. Around that time period, the

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

population began to increase at a steady rate, which then correlated with an increase in the wolf population. However, the increase in number of the Labrador wolf was not enough to offset the continuing rise in caribou in the region, causing a reconsideration of the predation limitation hypothesis. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, there were several confirmed and unconfirmed sightings of the Labrador wolf on the

island of Newfoundland Newfoundland (, ; french: link=no, Terre-Neuve, ; ) is a large island off the east coast of the North American mainland and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It has 29 percent of the province's land ...

. In March 2012, a hunter shot and killed a large canine on the

Bonavista Peninsula The Bonavista Peninsula is a large peninsula on the east coast of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It consists of 50 incorporated towns/unincorporated communities which have a population of 12,176 ...

, thinking it to be a

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

; genetic testing found it to be a Labrador wolf. In July 2012, a video posted on YouTube showed a canine which exhibited nearly all of the characteristics of a wolf. The video was taken in Clode Sound, Terra Nova National Park and was captured using a motion-sensitive trail camera set up as part of a joint research project on coastal river otters. On 23 August 2012, the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and Conservation published the results of genetic testing of a large canine trapped on the

Baie Verte Peninsula The Baie Verte Peninsula is a large peninsula on the north central coast of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Baie Verte Peninsula is a geologically complex area on the northwest coast of Newfou ...

in 2009, confirming that this animal was also a Labrador wolf.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1127210 Mammals of Canada Subspecies of Canis lupus Mammals described in 1937 fr:Canis lupus labradorius