How Do Wolves Survive in 24/7 Darkness?

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - Scientists have been tracking a pack of wolves in the Arctic this winter through a high tech collar that is sending GPS coordinates to a satellite which then emails the information back to researchers.

U.S. Geological Survey researchers have been able to monitor a wolf named "Brutus" as he travels with his pack. In July they were able to tag him with a satellite collar that transmits his locations. Their aim is to find out what these wolves do in the long, dark days of winter in one of the harshest areas of the world.

"This year, we made a huge technological jump from notebook and pens to satellite collars because we wanted to find out what these arctic wolves do in winter in areas when it is dark 24 hours a day and temperatures can fall to -70 degrees Fahrenheit," said David Mech, USGS wolf researcher, in a press release. "How far must they travel to obtain enough food to make it to the Arctic spring, which doesn’t happen until the next June?"

Mech has been studying the wolves on Ellesmere Island for the last 24 years, but only during the summer month of July. He could only theorize how the wolves lived during the winter.

Researchers know that Brutus is traveling with a pack of about 11 other adult wolves and some pups across the Arctic Circle. And now researchers have data that show that the pack's travels have covered over 740 square miles in the darkness of the winter.

"With the locations coming at 12-hour intervals we can't precisely say what Brutus was doing, but no doubt he was hunting and likely resting at times too," wrote Northwest Territories biologist Dean Cluff, who is working on the project with Mech, on the project's blog.

The wolves travel to find prey like muskoxen and Arctic hares, so the researchers expected them to be on the move, but they didn’t know exactly how far they’d go or where, reported Wired News.

The USGS has posted an audio interview with Mech, who talks about Brutus and what they hope to learn about these Arctic wolves.

The researchers have also posted updates to the International Wolf Center blog.

And see more images of Brutus, the "North Pole wolf,"  on the USGS Web site.