10 Interesting Wolf Facts

Wolf is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family. Though once abundant over much of Eurasia, North Africa and North America, the gray wolf inhabits a reduced portion of its former range due to widespread destruction of its territory, human encroachment, and the resulting human-wolf encounters that sparked broad extirpation. Even so, the gray wolf is regarded as being of least concern for extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, when the entire gray wolf population is considered as a whole. Today, wolves are protected in some areas, hunted for sport in others, or may be subject to population control or extermination as threats to livestock, people, and pets. Here is the 10 facts about wolf

1. The average adult wolf is 127 to 164 cm long from nose to tail. An adults tail is 47 mm long. A pup’s tail is about 27 mm long.The front paws are smaller than the back paws. Wolf paws are 2 times bigger than a coyote paws.

wolf

2. Mating season is from January to April. Pups are born about 63 days after breeding. The average litter is 6 pups. The mother stays close to the young for about 2 months. She eats some food then throws it up for her pups to eat. The pups start getting teeth in the third week. A wolf lives approximately 10 years.

Baby Wolves

3. There are 4 to 36 wolves in a pack. Two to six of them stay at the den. They have a territory that ranges from 130 to 13,000 km. They will defend it. They eat anything from a mouse to a moose, depending on what is available.

wolf pack

4. Wolves either hunt in packs or alone. They follow their prey. They hunt elk, deer, sick animals and weak animals.

pack of wolves

5. You can tell wolves are friendly ,when they roll over and show their bellies. When they want to play, they put their paws down and wag their tail. When they want to fight, they show their fangs and start growling. When they want to stop they put their ears back and lay down.

wolf friendly

6. Wolves do not make good guard dogs because they are naturally afraid of the unfamiliar and will hide from visitors rather than bark at them.

wolf guard

7. A male and female that mate usually stay together for life. They are devoted parents and maintain sophisticated family ties.

wolf mating

8. Among true wolves, two species are recognized: Canis lupus (often known simply as “gray wolves”), which includes 38 subspecies, such as the gray, timber, artic, tundra, lobos, and buffalo wolves. The other recognized species is the red wolf (Canis rufus), which are smaller and have longer legs and shorter fur than their relatives. Many scientists debate whether Canis rufusis a separate species.

gray wolf

9. In order for a new wolf cub to urinate, its mother has to massage its belly with her warm tongue.

wolf with baby

10. Wolf factsare the largest members of the Canidae family, which includes domestic dogs, coyotes, dingoes, African hunting dogs, many types of foxes, and several kinds of jackals.

canidae