Wolf Canis lupus

There are seven other species in the genus Canis, and C. lupus, or the Wolf includes the largest individuals within the family Canidae. Head and body length of C. lupus is 1,000-1,600 mm and tail length is 350-560 mm. There are subspecies of C. lupus, for example C. lupus arabs found on the Arabian Peninsula, who are much smaller in size. Overall, males are larger than females. Weights are 20-80 kg for males and 18-55kg for females. The coloration ranges from light brown to gray tipped with black and the legs are yellowish white. All white, but not albino, individuals occur with some frequency on tundra regions and well as elsewhere. All black individuals are also common in some populations.

C. lupus has the largest natural range of any terrestrial mammal other than Homo sapiens. It is found in all habitats of its North American range with the exception of tropical forests and arid deserts. C. lupus uses dens to rear its young, and these may be located in the crevices of rocks, a hollow log or uprooted stump, or, most commonly, a burrow which the Wolves either dig themselves or adapt from a previous inhabitant. Optimum sites for these dens are elevated and have water nearby. Several dens may be constructed in one area and each burrow can have several entrances with 2-4 meter long tunnels leading to the main chamber. The pups are born and cared for here and when they are about 8 weeks old, are moved to a rendezvous site. Here, the pups are introduced to the rest of the pack and may romp and play in this location for 1-2 months. Movement occurs mainly at night, but they becomes more active during daylight when the weather turns colder. The pack is also more transient during the colder months, traveling in single file along streams, pathways, and ice-covered lakes, and do not necessarily return to a specific location. Hunting seems to have a significant impact on how far the animals travel at any given time. C. lupus generally hunts prey larger than itself, though large, healthy animals who stand their ground are usually left alone. Prey animals include wapiti, moose, caribou, deer, bison, musk ox, mountain sheep, and beaver.

The Wolf is among the most social of all mammals, living in packs which are usually family groups averaging 5-8 animals, but may contain as many as 36 individuals. Relationships between packs, however, are hostile, and may result in fierce fighting and even death. Ranges are the size of defended territory and buffer zones in which no Wolves live, tend to result between the territories of neighboring packs. C. lupus communicates with a variety of olfactory, visual and auditory means. Scent marking, urination scratching, defecation, and howling, are all used to keep the pack together and warn intruders.

Within a pack, reproduction is limited to the dominant or Alpha female. Estrus lasts 5-15 days, gestation is 62-63 days. Mean litter size is 6 pups but may range from 1-11 offspring. At birth the pups weigh about 450 grams and are deaf and blind. They develop quickly, emerging from the den at 3 weeks of age and are weaned at about 5 weeks. The female stays with her pups while the male goes out to hunt, brining back food for the female and the pups. Initially, the pups are fed by regurgitation. At 8-10 weeks the family begins moving from one rendezvous site to another. C. lupus reaches sexual maturity at about 22 months of age, but the social hierarchy of the pack prevents the youngest animals from mating. Life expectancy can be from 14-16 years.

C. lupus is found through the N Hemisphere: North America south to 20ºN in Oaxaca (Mexico); Europe, Asia, including the Arabian Peninsula and Japan, excluding Indochina and S India. Extirpated from most of the continental USA, Europe, and SE China and Indochina. Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Egypt (?), Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Krygyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon (?). Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudia Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Syrai, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, USA, Ubzbekistan.