L. David Mech

Lucyan David Mech (/miːtʃ/; born January 18, 1937), also known as Dave Mech, is an American biologist specializing in the study of wolves. He is a senior research scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota. He has researched wolves since 1958 in locations including northern Minnesota, Isle Royale, Alaska, Yellowstone National Park, Ellesmere Island, and Italy. Mech is the founder of the International Wolf Center and the vice-chair of its board of directors. The project to create the facility, which he started in 1985, was an outgrowth of his wolf research as well as his ambition to educate people about the nature of wolves, so that they may come to respect the creature through understanding. He has published eleven books about wolves and other wildlife, including The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species (1970) and Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, which he co-edited with Luigi Boitani (2003). His 1997 book The Arctic Wolf: Ten Years with the Pack received an honorable mention by the National Outdoor Book Award (Nature and the Environment category). His latest book, with Doug Smith and Dan MacNulty, is Wolves on the Hunt: the Behavior of Wolves Hunting Wild Prey.