Thus it seems significant to report on incidences of black and white color phases in wolves that we have observed in northeastern Minnesota during some 480 hours of flying associated with wolf research (Mech et al., [p. 1]). The observations took place in the Superior National Forest, in northern Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties during the winters of 1966-67, 1967-68, and 1968-69. A total of 309 sightings were made of wolves that could be classified by color; of these, 11 (3.6 percent) were jet black ([fig. 1]) and two (0.6 percent) were creamish white, with the cream color the most intense on the back. No doubt some of the grays, and perhaps the blacks and whites, were repeated observations, but the figures should provide a reasonable approximation of the incidence of these color phases in this area. All black or white animals except one were observed with gray wolves ([table 1] and [fig. 2]).
A number of black wolves, and a few white wolves, have been seen by other observers, all in the three counties listed earlier. To gain some idea of the past incidence of these color phases in the same general area, we asked Conservation Officers Robert Hodge, Robert Jacobsen, and Frank Baltich of the Ely, Minnesota, area about the numbers of each phase that they took before 1960. They reported killing an approximate total of 580 wolves, of which four were black and three were white or creamish white.
Table 1.—Observations of wolves of black and white color phases
| Date | Location | Color combinations within each pack | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 24, 1967 | T64N-R8W-S1 | Vera Lake | 3 grays; 1 black; 1 white |
| Mar. 4, 1967 | T63N-R9W-S27 | Lake Two | 3 grays; 2 blacks |
| Dec. 18, 1968 | T63N-R8W-S35 | Lake Insula | 2 grays; 2 blacks[37] |
| Jan. 17, 1969 | T65N-R8W-S27 | Carp Lake | 1 gray; 1 white |
| Feb. 1, 1969 | T63N-R8W-S13 | Lake Insula | 4 blacks; 2 grays[38] |
| Feb. 5, 1969 | T63N-R8W-S8 | Benezie Lake | 1 black |
| Feb. 6, 1969 | T63N-R10W-S33 | Clear Lake | 3 grays; 1 black |
FOOTNOTES:
[37] These animals were near the shore of the lake, so others may have been inland where they could not be seen.
[38] This group might well have been the same as that seen on Dec. 18, 1968.
