Customer Reviews

Wolves of Isle Royale, The

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David Mech is the "alpha male" of wolf scientists, and Isle Royale is one of the most important locations for the study of wolves. This book is essentially his doctoral dissertation, based on field research under Durward Allen in 1959-1961.

Both Mech and wolf research have come a long way since then. As a result, this book provides an interesting snapshot of how little leading scientists knew in the 1960s. Note to skeptics: science really does advance.

That's not to say that there are any big mistakes here, just that Mech often comments that he didn't know something and that future research needs to figure it out.

Of more lasting value, his appendix includes 71 summaries of wolf-moose interactions (successful and unsuccessful hunts) drawn directly from his field notes. These could be incorporated into any future study you like.