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| Grey Wolf
Lower Risk
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 |
The Wolf or Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) is a mammal of the Canidae family and the ancestor of the domestic dog.
Wolves once had an almost worldwide distribution, but are now limited primarily to North America, Eurasia, and the Middle East. Their preference on habitat ranges among Forests, Tundra, Taigas, PlainsPlains is the name of several places in the United States of America and one in Scotland: Plains, Georgia Plains, Montana Plains, Pennsylvania Plains, Texas Plains, North Lanarkshire There is also The Plains, Ohio You might also be looking for the geograp and Mountains. In the northern hemisphere, human encroachment on their habitat and persecution of the animals themselves have drastically reduced their range. The wolf is today frequently in the line of fire in conflicts between many different interests: Tourism/Industry, City/Country as well as Conservation/Exploitation.
As the wolf is a top predator the state of the wolf can frequently be seen as a state of the land where it lives.
Wolves weigh 25–60 kg (50–130 lbs), and are about 100–150 cm (40–60 in) long with the tail being roughly a third of their body length. The males are larger than the females. The coloration runs from grey to grey brown but can vary through the canine spectrum of white, reddish, brown and black. The coat usually lacks any clear patterns except for paintings around the eyes. In areas where the ground is snow covered white wolves are far more common. Very old wolves get a greyish tint in their coat.
The wolf anatomy differs on several points from the dog. Most obvious is a pre-caudal gland on the over side of the tail, close to the base, that is not present on dogs. The wolf usually has golden-yellow eyes, longer legs, larger paws and more pronounced jaws.
The body of the wolf is built for long distance running, with a rather thin chest and powerful back and leg muscles. Wolves can move over great distances and the wide paws make sure deep snow hampers them less than their prey.
A wolf often seems more massive than a dog of comparable weight due to the extra bulk of the coat. The coat is built up of two layers, with hard guard hairs to repel water and dirt and a thick woolly undercoat to keep it warm. The wolf changes coat two times a year, during spring and autumn. Females tend to have a thicker winter coat and keep it further into the spring than males.
The wolves and most larger dogs share the same tooth configuration: The upper jaw has 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 premolars, and 4 molars. The bottom jaw has 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 premolars, and 6 molars. The canines are by far most important, as they are used to catch and hold prey. One common reason for wolves to starve is tooth damage after being kicked by larger prey.
Wolves live 6–9 years average in the wild, although in captivity on average they live 16 years. See mortality for more information.
Wolves function as social predatorThis snapping turtle is trying to make a mealof a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. A predator is an animal or other organism that hunts and kills other organisms for food in an act called predation . Most predators are carnivores. Some predators as and hunt in packPack can refer to several things: A backpack An organized group of dogs or wolves A complete set of playing cards.s organised according to a strict social hierarchy and led by an alpha male and alpha female. This social structure allows the wolf to take prey many times its size. The size of the pack changes during the year and is controlled by factors such as mortality and food supply. Generally it's between 2 and 12, although packs with more than 30 have been recorded. The hierarchy of the pack is strict, with the alphaAlpha by itself may refer to: The first letter of the Greek alphabet, Α α, which also has some cultural meanings; see alpha (letter). The letter A in the NATO phonetic alphabet, which is spelled Alfa for the benefit of native Spanish speakers. on top and the omega at the bottom. The hierarchy controls all activity in the pack, from which wolf eats first to which is allowed to breed (generally only the alpha pair). Between the extremes of the alpha and the omega there is usually a beta pair, contesters for the alpha position that will take it if any of the alpha wolves are killed. When an Alpha male or female is becoming old and decrepit, a younger, stronger animal, usually one of the beta pair, challenges the dominant animal. The loser of the fight is frequently chased away from the pack, or killed if it can not escape fast enough when the rest of the wolves turn on it. This kind of dominance fight is more common in the spring months, when mating occurs. All the wolves in the pack assist in raising the wolf pups. Some pups stay in the original pack to reinforce it and help rear more pups while others disperse.
New packs are formed when a wolf leaves its birth pack and claims a territory. Wolves searching for other wolves with which to form packs can travel very long distances in suitable territories. If there is a high wolf population, they must avoid the territories of other wolves because such intruders are chased away or killed. This probably explains wolf predation of dogs. Most dogs do not have much of a chance against a wolf protecting its territory from the unwanted intrusion. Packs frequently break apart when the alpha pair is killed.
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