Threats to an arctic wolf
Unlike other species of wolf, the Arctic wolf rarely comes into contact with human so does not face the threat of hunting or persecution. However, the greatest threat to the Arctic wolf is climate change. Extreme weather variations in recent years have made it difficult for populations of muskox and Arctic hares to find food, and this has caused a decline in numbers. In turn, this has reduced the traditional food supply of the Arctic wolf.
Industrial development also poses a threat to the wolf, as an increasing number of mines, roads and pipelines arrive on the wolf’s territory, and interrupt its food supply. Their original worldwide range has been reduced by about one-third, primarily in developed areas of Europe, Asia, Mexico, and the United States by poisoning and deliberate persecution. Since about 1970, legal protection, land-use changes, and rural human population shifts to cities have arrested wolf population declines and fostered natural recolonization in parts of Western Europe and the United States, and introduction in the western United States. Continued threats include competition with humans for livestock, especially in developing countries, exaggerated concern by the public concerning the threat and danger of wolves, and destruction of habitat, with resulting areas becoming too small for populations. There is sustainable use of the species' fur in Canada, Alaska, and the former Soviet Union and Mongolia.