Wolves

Type:Mammal

Diet:Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:6 to 8 years

Size:Head and body, 36 to 63 in (91 to 160 cm); Tail, 13 to 20 in (33 to 51 cm)

Weight:40 to 175 lbs (18 to 79 kg)

Group name:Pack

Protection status:Endangered

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

here are lots of different types of wolves. There are artic wolves, gray wolves, red wolves, Mexican wolves, Persian wolves, Indian wolves and Chinese wolves. On our website, we talk about the timber wolf, also known as the gray wolf. Gray wolves live in the Artic, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Minnesota, Idaho, Montana and Europe.Wolves are carnivores that live in the more wild parts of the world. They are great and majestic animals. They have been around for centuries and centuries. Wolves are very intelligent. They have a keen sense of smell and hearing. They know how to hunt together, bring down large prey, play to sharpen their hunting strategies, establish their own hierarchy, and many other things. Wolves are the great ancestors of the very animals many of you have at home, dogs. Dogs and wolves genetically diverged 135,00 years ago. Some dogs look like wolves, and some look nothing like them!

Wolves function as social predators and hunt in packs organised according to a strict social hierarchy and led by an alpha male and alpha female. This social structure allows the wolf to take prey many times its size. The size of the pack changes during the year and is controlled by factors such as mortality and food supply. Generally it's between 2 and 12, even if packs with more than 30 has been recorded. The hierarchy of the pack is strict, with the alpha on top and the omega at the bottom. The hierarchy controls all activity in the pack, from which wolf eats first to who is allowed to breed (generally only the alpha pair). Between the extremes of the alpha and the omega there is generally a beta pair, contesters for the alpha position that will take it if any of the alpha wolves are killed. Also, depending on the season there might be a number of pups and yearlings.

New packs are formed when a wolf leaves its birth pack and claims a territory. Wolves searching for other wolves to form packs with or suitable territories can travel very long distances. Packs frequently break apart when the alpha pair is killed.

Hunting:-

The wolf is somewhat opportunistic and will eat what it comes across as long as it is reasonably fresh. Packs of wolves hunt any large herbivore in their range, while lone wolves are more prone to take eat anything the come across, including rodents. The hunting methods ranges from surprise attacks on smaller animals such as rabbits and rodents to long lasting chases. Wolves can chase large prey for several hours before giving up, but the success rate is rather low.

Livestock predation:-
As long as there are enough prey animals, wolves seem to avoid taking livestock. However, some problem animals can specialize in hunting livestock. Sheep are frequently the most vulnerable, while horses and cattle are at less of a risk. Wolf-secure fences and the killing of problem animals are today the only known methods to effectively stop livestock predation.

Communication:-Wolves communicate with a wide range of sounds, from yips and growls to howls. Howls are frequently used to summon the pack to a location, announce their presence to other packs or simply to reinforce the bounds in the pack. Wolves howl more frequently when they have something to protect, such as a freshly killed prey or a border of their territory, and less frequently when avoiding conflicts with other packs.

Reproduction:-
Normally, only the alpha pair of the pack breed. This kind of organisation also occurs in other pack-hunting canids, such as the Dhole and the African Hunting Dog. Mating usually occurs in February to May and wolves, unlike dogs, only mate once a year. The gestation period is 61–63 days and the pups are born completely dependent on their mother. The wolf is sexually mature at two years old