Author Archives: Nathan Lyle
Return of the Wolves: Lessons from the Wilderness
January 31, 2022
Saint Paul-based National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation (the Foundation) has released a new documentary film, “Return of the Wolves: Lessons from the Wilderness,” and corresponding educational lesson plans for classrooms, distance learners, and homeschooled students. To learn more about … read more
Posted in Front Page News
Genetics and wolf conservation in the American West: lessons and challenges
January 31, 2022
Top predators are endangered throughout the world because of human persecution and habitat destruction. Plans to conserve and restore predator populations are often contentious, but few species are as problematic as the gray wolf (Canis lupus). In the United States, … read more
Posted in Genetics, Resources | Tagged American West, genetics, mexico, predator, Rocky Mountains, Wolf
Conflicts and Attitudes Regarding the Return of the Grey Wolf to California
January 31, 2022
Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Euro-American settlers began the task of changing the landscape of California from vast expanses of wetland and forest into agricultural land. Since the arrival and eventual settlement of Spanish colonizers, ranching cattle has been a … read more
Posted in Human Dimensions, Resources | Tagged california, conflict, Grey Wolf, northwest, yellowstone
Influence of body mass and environmental conditions on winter mortality risk of a northern ungulate: Evidence for a late-winter survival bottleneck
December 30, 2021
A relationship between winter weather and survival of northern ungulates has long been established, yet the possible roles of biological (e.g., nutritional status) and environmental (e.g., weather) conditions make it important to determine which potential limiting factors are most influential. … read more
Posted in Deer, Predator/Prey Relationships | Tagged Canis latrans, Canis lupus, cause-specific mortality, Odocoileus virginianus, weather, winter severity index
Reduction of Chronic Wasting Disease Prion Seeding Activity following Digestion by Mountain Lions
December 30, 2021
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible prion disease first observed in the 1960s in North America. This invariably fatal disease affects multiple cervid species in the wild and in captivity. In addition to the several known transmission pathways involving … read more
Posted in CWD & Other Diseases | Tagged chronic wasting disease, mountain lion, Prion, PrP, Puma concolor, RT-QuIC
Dogs are resistant to prion infection, due to the presence of aspartic or glutamic acid at position 163 of their prion protein
December 30, 2021
Unlike other species, prion disease has never been described in dogs even though they were similarly exposed to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agent. This resistance prompted a thorough analysis of the canine PRNP gene and the presence of a … read more
Posted in CWD & Other Diseases | Tagged canids, canine, dog, interspecies transmission, prion infection, prion susceptibility, scrapie, transgenic mouse models, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, transmission barrier


