Many grazing animals and some predators became extinct. However, the wolf is adaptable and continues to thrive in the Alaskan environment. Wolves occupy nearly all of their historic range and are common over about 85 percent of Alaska. They are well adapted to habitats ranging from rain forest to arctic tundra. Population densities range from about one wolf per 25 to 75 square miles in southern and interior areas to one wolf per 150 square miles in the coastal areas of northern and western Alaska.
Wolves are more scarce in some coastal areas for several reasons.
They are vulnerable to man in open country, suitable prey populations exist at low numbers or are nonexistent, and rabies outbreaks in wolves are common. Wolf numbers are stable or increasing in all occupied habitats. In most areas wolf density is about as high as the food supply will allow. Wolf distribution and abundance in recent years have been about as great as at any time since the turn of the century. The wolf population is prospering and is connected to a large and similarly thriving population that extends across most of Canada.