:Frequently Asked Questions & Wolf Facts
Q: What kinds of wolves live in America?
A: There are two wolf species in North America: the gray wolf (Canis lupus) and the red wolf (Canis rufus). The genus Canis also includes the coyote, the domestic dog, the jackal, and the dingo. The wolf is the largest of the wild canids.
Q: How large do wolves grow?
A: Wolves stand on the average about 34" at the shoulder. Gray wolves measure between 5 and 7.5 feet from nose to end of tail. Red wolves are somewhat smaller. Wolves weigh between 40 and 140 pounds; females generally weigh about 15 pounds less than males. A wolf's front feet are larger than its back feet. A foreprint varies from 4.5" to 5" long and 3.5" to 4.5" wide.
Q: What color are wolves?
A: Wolves range in color from all shades of gray, tan and brown to pure white and solid black. The wolf has two types of hair: long guard hairs repel moisture and the undercoat insulates. The wolf sheds its bulky winter coat in sheets; females tend to lose their winter coats more slowly than males.
Q: Do wolves have keen senses?
A: Wolves can hear a sound as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles away in open country. The wolf's sense of smell is 100 times greater than a human's; the wolf possesses as many as 200 million olfactory cells. The wolf has excellent peripheral vision and superior night vision making them exceptionally able to see movement. They do not have sharp focus at a long distance.
Q: What are wolves’ teeth like?
A: The wolf has 42 teeth. The upper jar holds six incisors, two canines, eight premolars and four molars. The lower jaw holds six incisors, two canines, eight premolars and six molars. The wolf has extremely powerful jaws that can generate 1,500 psi of pressure. The wolf's canine teeth interlock so that the wolf can hang on to struggling prey.
Q: How fast can wolves run?
A: The wolf usually travels at a trot, averaging 5 mph and can maintain this pace for a very long time. A wolf can run at speeds of up to 30-35 mph. A wolf will spend approximately one-third of its time on the move. It is common for a wolf to travel 20 miles a day in search of food and to be on the move from 8 to 10 hours in every 24-hour period. A wolf pack is often on the move within its territory, covering distances of 20-100 miles a day.
Q: How do wolves communicate?
A: Wolves have a sophisticated communication system that employs scent marks, vocalizations, posturing, facial expressions and rituals. Wolves use facial expressions to display aggression, fear, dominance and submission. Wolves not only howl but also bark, yap, whine and growl. Wolves howl to advertise their presence or position, to greet one another, to rally the pack and to attract a mate. Wolves do not howl at the moon. While howling, wolves change pitch to achieve harmonic as well as discordant effects. Wolf howls may be audible to the human ear up to ten miles away in good weather conditions.
Q: How long do wolves live?
A: Many wild wolves die before they reach five years of age. Very few exceed nine years of age. The mortality rate for wolf pups in the wild is at least 50%. Disease, malnutrition and predation by cougars, bears and humans are the main causes of death. In captivity, wolves can live up to 16 years.
Q: What do wolves eat?
A: The prey of choice is large ungulates (hoofed mammals), including deer, elk, caribou, moose and musk-ox. The wolf is designed for running, catching and killing large animals. A wolf pack eats the equivalent of one deer per week, or one caribou every two weeks. An adult wolf can consume 20 pounds of meat in a feeding. A wolf often goes many days without eating. Wolves eat, on average, 5 to 12 pounds of food per day and require 1 to 3 quarts of water a day.
Q: How to wolves catch their prey?
A: The wolf is an opportunistic hunter and will seek to catch the easiest and most vulnerable animal; it naturally seeks out the sick, the weak, the genetically inferior, the old and the young. Wolves have a low hunting success rate -- catching about one out of every ten prey animals pursued. To catch enough food they must hunt often and test many prey animals. Wolves usually hunt in packs, the basic unit of wolf society. However, single wolves can catch and kill a deer or elk.
Q: What is a “pack”?
A: A pack usually consists of a breeding pair and its offspring from the current and perhaps previous years. It is one of the most cohesive social units in the animal world. A pack usually numbers between four and seven members. The "alphas", or breeding pair, are the dominant members of the pack. The "beta" wolf is the second-ranking member in the hierarchy. The "omega" is the lowest-ranking wolf in the hierarchy. Wolf packs are territorial and may attack other wolves that intrude into their territory.
Q: Why do wolf packs have “alpha”, “beta” and “omega” wolves?
A: The hierarchy reduces conflict and promotes social order within the pack. There are two hierarchies in a wolf pack, one for males and one for females. Ritualized aggression is essential to maintaining order and harmony within the pack. Dominant wolves hold their tails high; subservient wolves keep their tails down. Change of rank in a wolf pack is more frequent at the lower end of the hierarchy. Submissive behavior by lower-ranking wolves in a pack plays a key role in maintaining peace. Subservient wolves will greet a dominant wolf by licking or nipping its muzzle. Such behavior is called "active submission". A subservient wolf lying on the ground and exposing its belly in the presence of a dominant wolf is engaged in "passive submission".
Q: What is the mating behavior of wolves?
A: Wolves become sexually mature at approximately 22 months of age. The wolf mating season in North America occurs only once a year, in February or March, when the female comes into estrus for three weeks. The wolf's gestation period is 63 days. Wolf pups are born in April or May.
Q: How many pups are born & what do they look like?
A: The average litter size for the wolf is four to seven pups, and can be as large as 14 pups. The average weight of a newborn pup is one pound. Wolf pups are born with blue eyes, which will change to yellow-gold by the time the pups are 8-16 weeks old. A wolf pup's eyes will open in 10-13 days. At three weeks a wolf pup will be able to hear. At four weeks the pups will venture out of the den.
Q: Why are wolves considered endangered?
A: The only true enemy of the wolf is man. Studies in Canada, Italy and the United States show that from 60-90% of wolf mortality has been through human causes. It is estimated that two million wolves were killed in a war of extermination waged against the species in the United States, the majority between 1850 and 1910. Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the gray wolf is listed as endangered in all of the Lower 48 states except Minnesota, where it is listed as threatened. The red wolf is listed as endangered.
Q: Where are wolves still found?
A: There are approximately 50,000 wolves in Canada, though they are no longer found in New Brunswick, Newfoundland or Nova Scotia. They are hunted as a game species. There are about 5,000-7,000 wolves in Alaska, where they are still hunted except in parks and reserves. Wolves can be found in Turkey, Iran, Israel (where they are fully protected), Saudi Arabia, India, Mongolia, China and Russia. Wolves survived in Poland, Romania, the former Yugoslavia, northern Greece, northern Spain and the mountainous central region of Italy. A few wolves have recently returned to Scandinavia, France and Germany.
Q: I want to get a wolf or wolf dog for a pet.
A: Wolves do not make good pets; they are not easily trained or housebroken, can be very destructive, are escape artists and solitary wolves can become stressed and neurotic. There are approximately 300,000 wolf-hybrids in the United States. They can be more aggressive than pure wolves and more unpredictable than domestic dogs.
{as referenced from http://wildworldofwolves.tripod.com/id7.htm}