Canis Lupus
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The Wolf
The wolf in its natural habitat
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Wolf Diets
In the western United States, wolves prey primarily on deer, elk, and moose. Wolves are opportunistic feeders and will also eat smaller mammals such as beavers and rabbits, as well as occasional domestic livestock, dead animals, and vegetation.
Coastal wolves in British Columbia are known to eat migrating salmon and even mussels on the salt-water beaches.
Adult wolves eat 5 to 14 pounds of meat per day on average, but sometimes 12 days or more may pass between feedings. Because hunts are successful only 3-14% of the time, wolves survive on a ‘feast or famine’ diet. After a successful kill, wolves devour the carcass, sometimes eating as much as 20 pounds, and then may remain relatively inactive for one or more days, digesting their meal.
Wolf kills can be differentiated from other predator kills by studying prey remains. Wolves typically attack the hindquarters, flanks, shoulders, nose, and tail of their prey. They feed preferentially on the viscera and hind limbs. The feeding strategy is not obvious if the animal is attacked by a pack, as the carcass is usually quickly consumed. Wolf tracks, hair and scat can often be found near a wolf kill.
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Anatomy and Dimensions
The gray wolf is the largest extant member of the Canidae, excepting certain large breeds of domestic dog. Gray wolf weight and size can vary greatly worldwide, tending to increase proportionally with latitude as predicted by Bergmann's Rule, with the large wolves of Alaska and Canada sometimes weighing 3–6 times more than their Middle Eastern and South Asian cousins.
On average, adult wolves measure 105–160 cm (41–63 in) in length and 80–85 cm (31–33 in) in shoulder height. The tail measures 29–50 cm (11–20 in) in length. The ears are 90–110 mm (3.5–4.3 in) in height, and the hind feet are 220–250 mm (8.7–9.8 in).
The mean body mass of the extant gray wolf is 40 kg (88 lb), with the smallest specimen recorded at 12 kg (26 lb) and the largest at 80 kg (180 lb). Gray wolf weight varies geographically; on average, European wolves may weigh 38.5 kg (85 lb), North American wolves 36 kg (79 lb) and Indian and Arabian wolves 25 kg (55 lb) Females in any given wolf population typically weigh 5–10 lb (2.3–4.5 kg) less than males Wolves weighing over 54 kg (119 lb) are uncommon, though exceptionally large individuals have been recorded in Alaska, Canada, and the forests of western Russia.
The heaviest recorded gray wolf in North America was killed on 70 Mile River in east-central Alaska on July 12, 1939 and weighed 79.4 kg (175 lb).
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The wolf classification is Mammalia.
Wolf Habitat and Territory
Wolves can survive in a variety of habitats, including forests, tundra, mountains, swamps and deserts.
Wolf territories usually vary in size from 200 to 500 square miles, but may range from as little as 18 square miles to as much as 1,000 square miles. One wolf per every 10 square miles is considered ideal for wolf health.
Territory size is typically based on the density of prey but is also influenced by pack size, presence of neighboring packs, and human land use. Wolves will aggressively defend their territories from other packs.
Wolves spend about 35% of their time traveling. They often travel 20 to 30 miles per day, but may cover over 100 miles in a day when prey is scarce.
Wolf Dens
Wolves only use dens when they have young pups that are not yet able to travel with the pack.
Wolf dens are usually located near water and dug into well-drained soil on a south-facing slope. They can be dug under a boulder, among tree roots, or in cut banks, hollow logs or other sturdy natural structures. Wolves often enlarge existing coyote or fox dens.
Wolf den entrances measure about 18 inches in diameter. The passageway, which may be straight, forked or hooked, is 4 to 18 feet long with a chamber measuring about 20 inches high by 50 inches wide by 40 inches deep. No bedding is added to the den. If the den has been used in past years, bones will be scattered about and well-defined trails should radiate from the den. It is common for dens to be reused.
Wolf Reproduction Biology and Maturation
Wolves are highly social animals that live in packs. A pack is an extended family group comprised of a the breeding, or “alpha” male and female pair and some of their subordinate offspring and current pups from one or more years.
The alpha wolves decide when the pack will travel and hunt, and normally are the first to eat at a kill. The pair’s offspring normally disperse into adjacent or available territories at 2 to 3 years of age. For packs studied in the Northern Rocky Mountain region, the average dispersal distance and subsequent new pack formation is about 65 miles.
For highly cursorial and very mobile wolves, this is “next-door.” Recent satellite-collar tracking data, however has shown that some offspring and individual wolves have dispersed more than a thousand miles in three or four months!
Almost always, only the male and female alphas of the pack will mate. Wolf packs typically have one litter of pups per year. Mating typically occurs between January and March.
Wolves begin breeding between 2 and 3 years of age and are believed to mate for life. Once sexually mature, most wolves leave their birth pack to search for a new territory or to join an existing pack.
Dispersing wolves roam 40 to 70 miles on average, and sometimes more than 100 miles, depending on gender, available habitat, and presence of other packs.
Wolf pups are born blind and deaf in an underground den after a 63-day gestation period.
Litter size averages 4 to 6 pups. During the first 3 weeks, pups nurse every 4 to 6 hours and need help regulating their body temperatures. The mother usually stays with her young in the den, eating food brought to her by other members of the pack.
Wolves Behaviour
Wolves food, protection and sleeping behaviour.
Wolves are highly social animals. A pack typically consists of 2-6 wolves and in rare cases have been known to have 42 wolves.
Wolves defend their territories from other packs through a combination of scent marking, direct attacks and howling.
They are territorial animals, and generally establish territories far larger than they require to survive in order to assure a steady supply of prey.
The wolves travel in search of prey through their power of scent, chance encounter, and tracking. Wolves typically locate their prey by scent, though they must usually be directly downwind of it.
When a breeze carrying the prey's scent is located, the wolves stand alert, and point their eyes, ears and nose towards their target.
In open areas, wolves may precede the hunt with group ceremonies involving standing nose-to-nose and wagging their tails. Once concluded, the wolves head towards their prey.
Although social animals, single wolves or mated pairs typically have higher success rates in hunting than do large packs, with single wolves having occasionally been observed to kill large prey.
Wolves are nocturnal and will hunt for food at night and sleep during the day. While the common belief is that wolves sleep cuddled up to one another in wolf dens, they actually sleep out in the open regardless of weather conditions.
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