Wolves
- Classification: Family: Canidae; Species: Canis lupus lycaeon
- Other Names: Gray wolf
- Appearance: Gray wolves look like large, muscular dogs with thick
fur and bushy tails. Their fur is any color, but usually gray and
brown, with black being a more rare color. From nose tip to tail tip
they are normally around five feet long, and weigh around 70 kg.
- Life Span: Wolves can live up to 15 or 16 years.
- Diet: Wolves generally hunt moose, elk, bison, musk oxen, and
reindeer, but will also eat rabbits and various other small mammals.
- Habitat: Gray wolves live in northern boreal and coniferous
forests, as well as open brushy areas, usually in high elevations such as
mountains or hills. In the Midwest, they often live in bogs.
They usually have a den in a cave, beneath a rock or fallen tree, or some
other sheltered place.
- Typical Personality: Wolves are extremely social. They live
in packs of 5 - 9 wolves, though packs can be as large as 36 wolves.
There is a strict system of rank in a wolf pack. Males and females
each have their own hierarchy, and neither sex is dominant. Wolves are
monogamous and mate for life. Wolves are very protective of their
young and also very playful.
- Habits: Howling is used to announce territorial rights and to call
members of the pack together for a hunt. Wolves are mostly nocturnal
though they can be active during the day. They can run up to 70
kilometers per hour.
- Life Cycle: The only wolves in a pack that breed are the alpha
pair. Pups are born in the springtime and there are five to nine pups
in a litter. The pups are raised by the entire pack and are weaned
five to eight weeks after birth.
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