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The wolf ( Canis lupus; [b] pl.: wolves ), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gray wolves, as popularly understood, only comprise naturally-occurring wild subspecies.
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In addition to the well-known gray wolf (Canis lupus), other types of wolves include the red wolf; the eastern wolf; the Ethiopian, or Abyssinian, wolf; the extinct Falkland Islands, or Antarctic, wolf; and the extinct dire wolf.
How many wolves are there in a pack?
Wolves can live in packs of up to two dozen individuals, but groups numbering 6 to 10 are most common. A pack is a family group consisting of an adult breeding pair (the alpha male and alpha female) and their offspring of various ages.
How big is a wolf pack's territory?
A wolf pack’s territory can be 80 to 3,000 square km (31 to 1,200 square miles), depending on prey abundance. A wolf pack strongly defends its territory against neighboring packs.
What is the lifespan of a wolf?
Pervasive in mythology, folklore, and language, the gray wolf has had an impact on the human imagination and has been the victim of levels of misunderstanding that few animals have shared. With the exception of humans and the lion, the gray wolf once had a larger distribution than any other land mammal, once ranging over all of North America from Alaska and Arctic Canada southward to central Mexico and throughout Europe and Asia above 20° N latitude. It lived in every type of habitat except tropical forests and the most arid deserts, and it was the premier hunter of the large hoofed mammals. Several subspecies occur throughout North America, Eurasia, and Africa; however, classifications disagree on the number of wolf subspecies. Wolves were first domesticated in northern Eurasia sometime between 14,000 and 29,000 years ago, and selective breeding produced dogs (C. lupus familiaris).
The wolf is built for travel. Its long legs, large feet, and deep but narrow chest suit it well for life on the move. Keen senses, large canine teeth, powerful jaws, and the ability to pursue prey at 60 km (37 miles) per hour equip the wolf well for a predatory way of life. A typical northern male may be about 2 metres (6.6 feet) long, including the bushy half-metre-long tail. Standing 76 cm (30 inches) tall at the shoulder, it weighs about 45 kg (100 pounds), but weight ranges from 14 to 65 kg (31 to 143 pounds), depending on the geographic area. Females average about 20 percent smaller than males. The largest wolves are found in west-central Canada, Alaska, and across northern Asia. The smallest tend to be near the southern end of their distribution (the Middle East, Arabia, and India). Fur on the upper body, though usually gray, may be brown, reddish, black, or whitish, while the underparts and legs are usually yellow-white. Light-coloured wolves are common in Arctic regions.
Early human societies that hunted for survival admired the wolf and tried to imitate its habits, but in recent centuries the wolf has been widely viewed as an evil creature, a danger to humans (especially in Eurasia), a competitor for big game animals, and a threat to livestock. Depredation of livestock was the primary justification for eradicating the wolf from virtually all of the United States, Mexico, and most of Europe. Wolves in the United States were killed by every method imaginable in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and by 1950 they remained only in the northeastern corner of Minnesota.
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In the late 20th century, greater tolerance, legal protection, and other factors allowed their range to expand in portions of North America and Europe. In 1974 gray wolves were classified as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. In 1995 wolves from Canada were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho, and captive-reared Mexican wolves (a subspecies) were released to their former range in eastern Arizona beginning in 1998. At the beginning of the 21st century, an estimated 65,000–78,000 wolves inhabited North America. Canada had the largest population (although the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island had no wolves), followed by Alaska and Minnesota. Some of the western states as well as Michigan and Wisconsin have smaller but recovering wolf populations, which numbered more than 6,000 in total by 2020. Canadian wolves are protected only within provincial parks, and despite the species’s removal from the Endangered Species Act in 2021, all wolves in the contiguous United States receive some level of legal protection by federal and state governments. Populations in southern Europe and Scandinavia are relatively small but are increasing. The Eurasian population probably exceeds 100,000 and is stable or increasing in most countries, and most afford the wolf some degree of legal protection. Worldwide, there are between 200,000 and 250,000 wolves, and they still occupy about two-thirds of their former range. Although often thought of as wilderness animals, wolves can and do thrive close to people when they are not excessively persecuted and food is available.
Learn about the gray wolf, the largest nondomestic member of the dog family, and its ecology, behavior, and history. Find out how wolves are related to dogs, how many subspecies exist, and where they live today.
- Steven H. Fritts
Learn about wolves, their characteristics, social structure, diet and habitat. Find out how wolves are related to dogs, how they communicate, hunt and survive in different climates and environments. Discover the largest and smallest wolves in the world and the difference between alpha and beta wolves.
Learn about the gray wolf, the largest member of the dog family and a legendary howler. Find out how many wolf species exist, where they live, what they eat, and how they cooperate in packs.
- 4 min
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May 3, 2024 · Visit the International Wolf Center. Interpretive Facility: 1396 Highway 169 Ely, Minnesota 55731-8129. Hours: The Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Sundays. Click the Book Now button to the right to get your tickets.
Wolves have been known to disperse up to 550 miles, but more commonly disperse 50 – 100 miles from their natal pack. Generally wolves disperse when 1 – 2 years old as they reach sexual maturity although some adults disperse also. At any one time 5 – 20 percent of the wolf population may be dispersing individuals.
