Wolf and his description. Where do wolves live in the wild? Conservation status of the species

One of the most mysterious and amazing animals on the planet is the wolf. The ferocious predator demonstrates masterful skills during the hunt, and loyalty and care in the pack. People still cannot unravel the mystery of this beautiful animal. Next, we invite you to read more exciting and interesting facts about wolves.

1.Determining weather conditions, wolves are able to hear sound signals that sound at a distance of 9 kilometers.

2. Wolf blood, which the Vikings drank before battle, raised morale.

3.The first images of wolves were found in caves that are 20,000 years old.

4. Wolves are able to distinguish more than 200 million odors.

5. Wolf cubs are always born with blue eyes.

6.A she-wolf bears her cubs for about 65 days.

7. Wolf cubs are always born blind and deaf.

8.Wolves are terrestrial predators.

9.In ancient times, wolves lived only in deserts and tropical forests.

10. A pack of wolves can include either 2-3 individuals or 10 times more.

11. In one sitting, a wolf who is very hungry can eat about 10 kg of meat.

12.Wolves can swim and they can swim 13 km.

13.The smallest representatives of the wolf family live in the Middle East.

14.Wolves communicate by howling.

15.Crows usually live where wolves live.

16.The Aztecs used wolf liver to treat melancholy.

17.Residents of European countries created a special powder based on wolf liver, which could be used to relieve labor pain.

18.Wolves are the first animals to be protected as endangered species.

19.Wolves prefer to eat their relatives who are caught in a trap. Therefore, it is better for hunters to quickly pick up the wolf from the trap.

20. Representatives of wolves can weigh 100 kg.

21. A hybrid of a wolf and a dog is a dog of the Wolfdog breed. Moreover, the wolf was crossed with a German shepherd.

22.Although wolves are not considered carriers of rabies, they can catch it from foxes and raccoons.

23.American wolves attack people less often.

24.Wolves eat their prey alive because they do not have anatomical weapons that can quickly kill the prey.

25.Wolves treat dogs only as their own prey.

26. Previously, Ireland was called the “Land of Wolves” because there were many wolf packs there.

27.The wolf's eyes are endowed with a reflective layer that can glow at night.

28.Wolves react more to movements than to sounds.

29.Black wolves appeared during the mating process of domestic dogs and gray wolves.

30.A mortal fight between wolves begins when several packs meet in the same territory.

31.When biting with their teeth, wolves create pressure of up to 450 kg/cm.

32.Wolves are mysterious animals that were revered by the Arabs, Romans and Indians.

33. These animals cannot be trained, even in captivity.

34.Wolves are devoted life partners to their soulmate.

35.Wolves change partners only if their partner dies.

36.Usually small wolf cubs are raised by females.

37.If the female falls asleep, the male wolf protects her.

38. In every pack of wolves there is a dominant pair, from which all other wolves follow their example.

39.Wolves are lovers of freedom.

40.Wolves become afraid when they see fabric blowing in the wind.

41.Wolves' claws can wear off when they touch the ground.

42.Wolves are very tenacious and hardy animals.

43.The activity of a wolf that does not receive food remains active for 10 days.

44. Wolf cubs weigh 500 grams at birth.

45. In Greece there was a belief that whoever eats a wolf becomes a vampire.

46.Germany is considered the first country to take up the protection of wolf packs.

47.Wolves have many facial movements.

48. The Japanese language ascribes the meaning “great god” to the word “wolf.”

49.Wolves try to attract lonely females by howling.

50.The sense of smell and hearing of wolves is simply excellent.

51.Wolves will weigh less in those representatives who live closer to the Equator.

52.Wolves are able to run without stopping for 20 minutes.

53. In winter, wolf fur is very resistant to frost.

54.Wolves can reproduce after reaching the age of 2 years.

55. Newborn wolf cubs leave the den within 3 weeks after birth.

56.On average, a she-wolf gives birth to 5-6 babies.

57.Usually, wolf cubs are born in summer period.

58. Wolf cubs can increase in size up to 30 times in the first 4 months after birth.

59. During the mating season, wolves are more aggressive.

60. A wolf’s sense of smell is 100 times stronger than a human’s.

61.Wolves are color blind.

62. A wolf who was kicked out of the pack or left it himself is called a loner.

63.Wolves have lived on Earth for more than 100 million years.

64.Each wolf has a different character: some are self-confident and daring, others are cautious.

65.Each pack of wolves hunts only in its own territory.

66.The tail of the pack leader wolves rises very high.

67. Showing tenderness to each other, wolves rub their muzzles and lick their lips.

68.Wolves move most of all in the spring.

69.Wolves are very attached to their own children.

70.In patriarchal times, wolves were compared to grooms who stole brides.

71.Wolf hunting was considered the most popular hobby of noble people.

72.Wolves are able to react to a person who imitates a howl.

73.When a wolf feels anxious, it raises its head up.

74.Wolves breed only in winter.

75.The leaders of a wolf pack must constantly confirm their status.

76.Wolves are much smarter than dogs because their brains are larger.

77.Wolves are not the least bit afraid of humans.

78.Wolf howls can sound in different ranges.

79.Even though wolves are carnivorous animals, they also eat carrots and watermelons.

80. Arctic wolves do not rush at deer until the moment they have hope in their hearts of swallowing a mouse.

81. Newborn wolf cubs early become interested in the world around them.

82.It is not for nothing that wolves are considered “forest orderlies”; they clear the territory of sick and dead animals.

83.Even when death occurs, wolves will try to save their neighbor.

84.Wolves were the heroes of films and legends.

85.Wolves are able to sense their prey at a distance of 1.5 km.

86.Black wolves have greater resistance to infectious diseases.

87. Female wolves weigh about 5-10 kg less than males.

88. Wolf cubs that are 1.5 months old can already run away from danger.

89.Due to food shortages, wolves feed on carrion.

90.Wolves can kill foxes, but they will not eat them.

91. Red wolves reproduce well in captivity.

92.The gray wolf has a large and heavy head.

93. Most of the wolf's undercoat falls out in the spring and grows back in the fall.

94. Coyote wolves live in the same den for several years.

95. Coyote wolves have a lifespan of 10 years.

96. Respect for the leader of the wolf pack is shown by special facial movements of these animals.

97.Wolves live in pairs in the den.

98.When the teeth of a newborn wolf cub begin to erupt, the mother rubs its gums with her tongue.

99. In the process of hunting other animals, wolves use the method of reeling.

100. It will not work to keep a wolf in a nursery, because he is for a short time can learn to open a lock.

Wolf (canis lupus), also called Gray wolf or the common wolf is a predator, a mammal, belonging to the canidae family. The wolf belongs to the wolf genus, which also includes the coyote and jackal. In the canine family, the wolf is the largest animal.

Here are its dimensions: the length of the wolf is up to 150 cm, including the tail - 2 m, height at the withers - 90 cm, body weight - the same as the weight of an adult, maybe up to 90 kg.

According to recent studies of wolf DNA, it has been established that the wolf is the ancestor of the dog. Probably a long time ago, wolves were domesticated and a breed of domestic wolf - a dog - was developed.

The wolf was previously distributed quite widely throughout the world, especially in Eurasia and America. Currently, as a result of the mass extermination of the wolf, and due to the spread of cities and villages, the wolf's habitat has sharply decreased.

Moreover, in some regions this predator is now not found at all. In other regions it appears less and less often, because there are areas in which hunting it is still not prohibited. They continue to exterminate him, since this predator still kills livestock, can attack a person, and besides, hunting a wolf is an old human pastime.

However, the wolf brings great benefits - it regulates the balance of the ecosystem, for example, in the taiga, in the steppes and mountains, in the tundra, the wolf helps nature get rid of dying or sick animals, thereby healing the gene pool of nature.

There are 32 subspecies of wolves in the world. In Russia you can find common and tundra wolves.

Why is a wolf called a wolf?

The word wolf, which is Slavic peoples sounds almost the same, for example in Bulgarian the wolf will be “volk”, in Serbian “vuk”, in Belarusian - voyuk, and in Ukrainian “vovk”.

It is believed that this word is closely related to the word “drag”, “to drag away”, because when a wolf dragged away living creatures, he dragged it in front of him. This is where the word “wolf” comes from.

Wolf Ancestors - Evolution

The wolf's ancestor is canis lepophagus, an ancient mammal similar to the coyote. The ancestor of the wolf lived in North America.

When the ancient canids, the wolf's rivals, the borophages, died out, the ancestor wolf increased its body size. The wolf's skull has also increased in size. The found remains of a wolf tell us this.

A wolf similar to a real wolf was first discovered during the study of the early Pleistocene, which existed more than 1.8 million years ago.

For example, a wolf was found called canis priscolatrans, which resembles the appearance of a real red wolf. This ancient wolf lived in Eurasia. It later evolved into the subspecies canis mosbachensis, which was much more similar to the modern wolf.

This wolf was distributed throughout Europe and only 500 thousand years ago it evolved into the modern wolf.

When geneticists began to study wolf DNA, they discovered that there are at least 4 wolf family trees. These are the African genealogical line of the wolf, the Himalayan, Indian and Tibetan lines.

The Himalayan genealogical line is considered to be the oldest. That is, the Himalayan wolf is considered the most ancient species, but appeared about a million years ago, then comes the Indian wolf - this is a branch from the Himalayan line, the Tibetan wolf is already a descendant of the Indian wolf, it appeared only 150 thousand years ago. The Tibetan line of wolves is otherwise called Holarctic; it is common in Europe and North America.

The extinct Japanese wolf is a descendant of the Himalayan wolf; previously it was very large, but subsequently natural changes led to the disappearance of large ungulates, the Japanese wolf became smaller.

The Hokkaido wolf, however, which lives on the mainland and has the ability to hunt large prey, is much larger than its extinct Japanese cousin.

The Japanese wolf, as well as the Japanese Hondo wolf or shamanu, became extinct due to extermination by humans. The wolf was exterminated due to rabies, cases of which were described in literary sources and dated back to 1732. The most recent wolf was exterminated in Japan in 1905. It was a miniature wolf, more like a fox than a wolf.

Now you can only see stuffed animals of this wolf in museums.

Appearance of a wolf

The wolf looks different in different parts of the world. The appearance of the wolf greatly depends on the prey and the surrounding climate. If we consider the average representative of a wolf, then this animal is approximately 65 to 90 cm at the withers, weighing from 30 to 90 kg.

The wolf reaches maturity at about 3 years of age, gaining height and weight. In Siberia, a wolf up to 80 kg in weight can be found.

But hunters say that it is not at all uncommon to meet an animal weighing more than 90 kg.

The smallest wolf in the world is the Arabian wolf - canis arabs, it can weigh 10-15 kg.

If we consider the wolf population, males are usually 20% larger than females in both height and weight. By appearance reminds me of a wolf big dog with pointed ears.

The habitat of the red wolf is Central, Central and South Asia, as well as the Malay Peninsula. This predator can be seen on the island of Sumatra and on the island of Java.

You can expect a red wolf in Russia, but it is hardly possible to meet one, since this predator has not been seen by anyone on Russian territory for 30 years. Perhaps its population has already disappeared in Russia and yet the red wolf is listed in the Red Book of Russia.

It is quite easy to recognize this predator - it has a fox-like appearance - short legs, a long body with a long tail, a small head and thick red-red long hair. It is possible that when you meet this wolf, you feel like you have met a fox.

The red wolf is a pack animal; scientists believe that there are no more than a few thousand of these unusual wolves left. This wolf hunts at any time of the day or night and always lives where there are many ungulates. Since his hunting targets are mountain sheep, goats and deer.

The number of red wolves has been reduced due to the fact that its habitat has been destroyed by humans, the number of wild grazing ungulates has decreased, and therefore the number of red wolf individuals has also decreased.

How is a wolf different from a dog?

His legs are strong and taller, his paw is slightly larger and more extended. The head has a wider forehead, compared to a dog's, its muzzle is wide and there is quite a lot of hair on the sides, which makes it look like a lion. The wolf has narrow-set eyes and an elongated muzzle. It is narrower and much more expressive than a dog's.

The wolf's muzzle is very expressive. So scientists have identified about 10 emotions that can be “read” on his face - anger, humility, tenderness, fear, threat, fear, anger, calm and submission.

The wolf has a large and high skull. The wolf's nose protrudes forward and widens slightly at the bottom.

A separate discussion will be about wolf teeth. Legends and fairy tales were written about them. A wolf’s teeth are its most important tool, which is influenced by the way this predator hunts and lives. The upper jaw contains 20 teeth, of which only 6 incisors and 2 large canines.

There are 22 teeth on the lower jaw. The wolf grabs and holds its prey with its fangs. The fangs are very strong and can hold up a fairly large animal. For a wolf, its teeth are not only a great assistant in hunting, but also a means of protection. If a wolf suddenly loses its teeth, it will lead to starvation and ultimately death.

The wolf has a long tail. It is much longer and thicker than the dog's and is lowered down. The wolf does not wag its tail like a dog. You can tell a wolf by a wolf's tail, just like by a dog's. If the tail is lowered and does not move, then the wolf is calm; if the wolf twitches its tail, it is dissatisfied.

A wolf's fur is thick and hard. It has two layers - coarse hair and undercoat. The undercoat gives the wolf warmth in winter, and the hard fur protects this predator from dirt and water.

A wolf can shed. This usually happens when spring turns into summer. The wolf's body temperature heats up and the fluff begins to peel off from the body. The wolf is simply hot. He begins to rub against the trees to quickly get rid of his winter fur.

The fur color of the predator depends on the subspecies of the wolf. For example, a forest wolf has gray-brown fur, a tundra wolf has almost white fur, and a wolf living in the desert wears a grayish-red fur coat.

There are unusual wolves- pure white, red or even black. Small wolves or cubs have a uniform coat color - usually dark. Over time, their cover becomes several tones lighter.

However, only the second layer of fur is different in wolves. A wolf's undercoat is always gray.

A wolf is also distinguished from a dog by the tracks it leaves on the ground or snow.

The following differences will help you recognize wolf tracks:

The wolf's index and little fingers are positioned further back than the middle fingers.
the wolf holds his paw collected - so his footprint is more prominent,
The path of wolf tracks is always straighter than dog tracks and more crowded, which will reliably indicate that a wolf passed here.

The size of a wolf's track is from 9.5 to 11 cm in length, that of a she-wolf is from 8.5 to 10 cm in length.

Wolf eyes have been a subject of mysticism for many centuries and artists often depict them in their paintings.

Wolf cubs are born with blue eyes, but after 2-4 months their eyes turn yellowish or even orange. Very rarely, a wolf’s eyes remain blue even after the period of “childhood”.

It is also very rare to find a wolf with green, brown or green-blue eyes.

How the wolf howls

It is believed that the wolf howls mainly at the moon on one note and no longer gives voice. However, this is not at all true. The wolf's voice is quite diverse in frequency range. His ability to change the frequency of his voice can only be compared with that of a human.

Wolves can howl, howl, whine, growl, yelp and bark. And at the same time, every howl, bark, etc. may have thousands of variations.

Even a wolf's howl at the moon is the singer's aerobatics - the wolf starts from the lowest note and gradually brings his singing to a high note, but this note is not the last. We hear it last, since the human ear is not capable of perceiving all the frequencies that the wolf’s throat is capable of transmitting.

A wolf can “talk” to its packmates and warn, for example, that people are about to appear, call for an attack, or that there is prey somewhere.

Wolves howl at dawn and when the moon appears, and they howl collectively; at this moment, according to scientists, wolves show their belonging to the pack and feel an emotional upsurge. This is comparable to the emotional uplift people experience during choral singing.

However, wolves do not howl every day; perhaps the howl of wolves begins when they need the general support of the pack, the feeling of a friendly shoulder.

People have been learning to understand the language of the wolf for centuries, and now there are people who understand wolf negotiations.

How a wolf finds prey

The wolf has a very sensitive sense of smell. Its sense of smell is tens of times stronger than that of a human, so a wolf can smell prey at a distance of 3 km from it.

The wolf distinguishes hundreds of millions of different smells and has a wealth of information about the reality around it. In addition, the wolf sometimes marks its territory through urine and feces. The wolf marks its territory most strongly during the rut.

Current habitat of the wolf

Previously, the wolf lived everywhere in the world, but due to the advent of weapons in humans, the wolf’s habitat decreased significantly. Now the wolf can be found throughout the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. In Russia it is absent only in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

The wolf inhabits the tundra, forests, steppes, penetrates south to desert areas, and can live in the mountains above the forest belt (3000 - 4000 m).

Wolf Pack

The gray wolf is a social animal whose main social networks consist of wolf families and their offspring.
On average, a pack consists of 5-11 animals (1-2 adults, 3-6 juveniles and 1-3 yearlings), and sometimes two or three such families.
It happens that the number of wolves in a pack can reach up to 40.

IN ideal conditions a wolf couple can produce puppies every year, without separating for this up to 5 years. The reason for separation for wolves is the beginning of puberty of the offspring and competition in the fight for prey.

For wolves it has great importance size of hunting territory per wolf stab. Sometimes wolves can move long distances—up to 400 km from the starting location—in search of food.

It is important for a wolf pack that the wolves within it are not hostile towards each other. Therefore, the larger the flock, the more food there is in the territory, and the smaller the flock, the less food there is. Wolves can search for unoccupied territory for a long time in order to create a pack that has no enemies among other wolves.

A created wolf pack rarely accepts other wolves into its fold; as a rule, it kills them. In rare cases, when a wolf pack adopts another wolf, this can only be due to its youth (up to 3 years), that is, a wolf that a wolf couple can “adopt” without harm to themselves and their offspring.

Sometimes a lone wolf is accepted into a wolf pack, but only for the purpose of replacing a deceased male wolf.

During times of abundance of ungulates, different wolf packs may unite.
Wolves are very territorial animals, and tend to occupy a territory much larger than they need to survive. This is done so that random fluctuations in the number of prey do not prevent the wolf pack from surviving.

In general, the territory depends not only on the number of prey, but also on the number of wolf cubs. After all, wolves, reaching 6 months of age, have the same food needs as an adult wolf.

The wolf pack constantly moves around its territory in search of food and covers approximately 25 km per day. Basically, almost all the time they are in the center - the core of their territory. This is done in order to avoid accidental collision with another wolf pack.

The core of a wolf pack's territory is approximately 35-40 square kilometers, while the entire territory can be up to 60-70 square kilometers. A wolf pack can leave its territory only in an emergency, for example, when there is an acute shortage of food.

Wolves are excellent at protecting their territory from other wolf packs, using special marks as warnings to ensure that the wolf pack's territory is not disturbed by another wolf pack. If suddenly this happens, then the wolf pack attacks the intruders, but first they try to scare them away by howling.

Marking their territory, as we have already said, is done by urinating or defecating; sometimes wolves scratch the ground, then mark the scratches. They leave a scent every 200 meters, and usually mark for 2-3 weeks.

Territorial fights between wolf packs are considered the main causes of wolf mortality in natural conditions, without human intervention. Scientists believe that this kills between 15 and 65% of wolves.

Reproduction and development

Wolves, as a rule, are monogamous; pairs are usually created for life, until one of the wolves of the pair dies. After the death of one wolf of a pair, the pair is usually quickly restored with the help of the other wolf.

Males predominate in a wolf pack, so unpaired females are rare. The age of first mating in gray wolves depends on the environment - if there is enough food, or when the wolf population has declined sufficiently that population control laws take effect, fairly young wolves may be able to reproduce.

This is confirmed by the fact that in good conditions of reserves with sufficient food, wolves can create families as early as 9-10 months of age. However, in the wild, the standard breeding age for wolves is 2 years.

Females can give birth to wolf cubs every year. Unlike the coyote, the wolf never reaches reproductive senescence. Estrus usually occurs in late winter. Wolves mate with old she-wolves 2-3 weeks earlier than with young ones. What explains this is unknown.

During pregnancy, female wolves remain in the center of the wolf pack's territory to protect the female from clashes with other wolves, which usually occur on the periphery of the pack's territory.
A she-wolf's pregnancy lasts 62-67 days; wolf cubs, as a rule, are born in the spring and summer.

Wolves give birth to many more wolf cubs per litter than other canine species. The average litter consists of 5-6 cubs, with increasing fertility in areas where prey is abundant, although even a particularly large litter does not exceed 14-17 cubs.

Wolf cubs are born blind and deaf, and are covered with short, soft grayish-brown fur. The weight of a born wolf cub is 300-500 grams. Wolf cubs begin to see at 9-12 days. Their primary fangs appear 1 month after birth. After just 3 weeks, a small wolf cub can leave the den, and already at the age of 1.5 months they are strong and flexible enough to be able to run away from danger.

The mother wolf does not leave her den for a minute for at least 3 weeks. And all the concern about providing both mother and wolf cubs with food falls on the father wolf. Already at 3-4 weeks from birth, wolf cubs can eat solid food.

Wolf cubs grow very quickly - their weight from the beginning of the wolf cub's birth increases 30 times in the first four months. Wolf cubs begin to play at the age of 3 weeks. The games are mainly of a fighting nature.

Although, unlike coyotes and young foxes, their bites are painless. The wrestling of wolf cubs establishes a hierarchy in the family among the kids. The fight can last for 5-8 weeks. By autumn, the cubs are old enough to accompany adults in their hunt for large prey.

Wolf and hunting

Wolves usually hunt in packs, sometimes individually. The wolf will almost always eat its prey completely. Wolves have more advantages when hunting in a pack because they are intelligent animals, can work together, and are capable of preying on animals that are much larger and stronger than a single wolf. Wolves are strict predators and often survive after a hunt, they calculate their strength. Wolves do not kill for sport, only for survival.

Wolves feed on carrion, hunt and eat everything. Large game animals wolves prey on include deer, elk, caribou, bison, and musk ox. Small animals include beavers, hares, and small rodents.

Wolves have a large stomach and can absorb 10 kg at a time. However, wolves can survive without food for 2 weeks or even longer if food is scarce. Their digestion is very efficient, but the wolf's intestines cannot digest 5 percent of the meat. Any bone fragments that are not broken down somehow can be found in the wolf's stomach, wrapped in undigested hair, which protects the intestines from injury.

The wolf cubs feed from the adults, who regurgitate fresh meat, or for the wolf cubs to grow up, the wolves carry fresh pieces of meat into the den. Wolves play an important role in the lives of other animals. Because wolves eat sick or weak animals, and then they actually help herds of large ungulates regain their strength, relieving them of the burden of sick animals.

For example, there is a sick deer in the herd that eats food that could be used to feed a healthy young deer. Thus, by eliminating a sick deer, the wolf not only reduces the possibility of infection from this deer to other deer, but also contributes to the availability of more food for the rest of the herd.
Wolves live and hunt mainly in their own territory. Members of the pack will guard and defend their territory from invading wolves. The size of the territory depends on the availability of prey. If prey is scarce, the size of the territory may be small, however, if prey is abundant, the wolf's territory may be much larger.
The hunt will begin with the gathering of pack members, they greet each other with howls. This howl will deter other wolf packs from entering that pack's territory. Wolves begin their hunt by passing through the entire territory of the pack until they discover their prey.

The wolf drives its prey in the opposite direction from the wind in order to avoid the opportunity for the animal to detect the wolf's scent and run away. As soon as their prey realizes that it is being pursued and tries to escape, the chase begins. The wolves chase her and as soon as they catch up, they immediately bite her, usually from the side.

Large animals try to avoid being bitten and turn around to attack the wolf with their horns. The wolf is afraid of being wounded by its horns. Therefore, in this case, the animal is surrounded by other members of the wolf pack in order to attack from behind. At this time, the wolf standing in front, taking advantage of the prey turning backwards, seeks to bite it in the throat or face. Then the entire flock attacks the prey and kills it. The wolf immediately begins to eat its prey.

A wolf can hunt all day long until their hunt is successful. After all, this is a matter of the wolf’s survival.

Quick facts about the wolf

1. The average lifespan of a wolf in the wild is 10 years. Wolves live in packs, which usually consist of an alpha male wolf, his alpha female, and their offspring of varying ages. Other wolves may also join the pack.
2. The wolf has no real natural predators; their biggest threat is other wolf packs in the surrounding areas. Wolves are known to live up to 20 years in captivity.
3. Wolves are predatory animals and typically hunt large animals, but wolves also hunt small animals. Wolves hunt together in a pack and work together as a team to catch and kill a large animal, such as elk or deer. Wolves are opportunists and will not waste their energy chasing a healthy deer 10 km when a wounded or sick deer is more accessible. Alaska Native peoples call the wolf "Wild Shepherd."
4. Wolves have a layer of thick fur, which is particularly necessary for wolves living in areas of the Arctic where it can be very cold. It is during the winter months in these areas that the wolf's stored calories are most critical. Large animals such as elk and deer suffer greatly from cold and lack of food, and during this time they become slow, lethargic and therefore easier to catch.
5. Wolves are endangered today, as wolves in large quantities destroyed by human hunting, poisoned or captured for their fur and to protect livestock. Wolves have also been severely affected by the loss of their habitat and have been pushed into smaller areas where food sources may not be plentiful enough to feed a hungry wolf pack.
6. Wolves typically mate in late winter to early spring and cubs are born a couple of months later when the weather is warmer and prey is plentiful. The cubs develop intensively for the next part of the year in order to survive their first cold winter. The wolf cubs remain with their mother in the wolf pack.
7. Wolves can freely interbreed with dogs, coyotes, and jackals to produce fertile offspring. This is a case of incomplete speciation. There are physical, behavioral and environmental differences between these species, but they are completely genetically compatible. None of the animals in this group can breed with foxes, which are too different from wolves genetically.
8. Wolves are the largest representatives of the canine family.
9. The wolf does not run fast. Maximum speed wolf - approximately 45 km/h. Instead of running, they rely more on their hearing and smell to detect prey.
10. Wolves have great endurance - they can run day and night until they reach their prey.
11. Wolves develop close relationships and quite strong social bonds. The wolf often shows deep affection for his family and may even sacrifice himself to protect his family.
12. A wolf can be expelled from the pack or leave the pack of his own free will - then he becomes a lone wolf. Such a wolf rarely howls and tries to avoid contact with the pack.
13. The wolf is a favorite character in legends and fairy tales, it is a very intelligent animal and does little to live up to its terrible reputation in legends and fairy tales.
14. People still fear wolves and persecute them more than any other predator. Several centuries ago, people even tortured a wolf and burned it at the stake. However, the wolf has high intelligence and instinct, which helped him save himself from extinction.

The final fate of the wolf depends on whether man allows the wolf to coexist next to him.

However, it is worth remembering that the wolf is nature’s most important orderly. And by depriving her of the wolf, the person risks dying himself.

Various sheltered places serve as resting places for wolves. In cold, windy and damp weather they prefer more sheltered places, and in dry, quiet and warm weather they willingly lie down openly. In the autumn-winter-spring time, when wolves lead a nomadic or generally more active lifestyle, they lie down where the dawn finds them. In the summer, they are associated with a den, which is always arranged for the young.

To build a nest, the she-wolf usually uses natural shelters - crevices in rocks, cliffs with canopies along the banks of rivers and slopes of ravines, holes covered with dense plants, thickets of young animals or bushes, “uprooted” or dead wood, weeds, etc. In many cases, nests are made in the burrows of various animals - foxes, badgers (in the forest belt), marmots (in the steppe, mountain meadows), arctic foxes (in the tundra), etc. Wolves usually expand and partially remodel adaptable burrows. In more rare cases, the she-wolf digs a pore, usually shallow and short, with 1-3 holes. Burrows are made on slopes with soft, predominantly sandy and sandy loam soil. In most cases, predators place nests in dry areas.

The den, as a rule, is located no further than 500 m from a watering hole (lake, river, stream, spring, deep hole with water, pond, etc.); 1-2 paths lead to it, becoming especially noticeable when the young begin to emerge from the hole. Approaches to watering holes are often hidden. In addition to the trails, around the den you can find numerous wolf beds, play areas for puppies and food remains. The lair often emits a pungent odor of urine and rotting food debris. Remains of food attract birds such as magpies, crows, etc. to the nest. By their cries, it is possible to clarify the location of the wolf’s nest with its brood.

There are few places convenient for a den, and from year to year they are usually occupied by the same pairs of wolves. When a male dies, he is often replaced in a pair by a young wolf, and when a female dies, he is often replaced by a young she-wolf. Therefore, dens are rarely empty, but are abandoned only due to significant changes in the environment (deforestation, fire, drainage of swamps, etc.). So, in the Charussky forestry Ryazan region For 4 years in a row, wolves made a den in the same forest dacha, although every autumn a round-up hunt was organized for the broods that appeared there, when some of the young were killed, and in 1937 the seasoned male was also killed.

More often, wolves choose places for their lair where people rarely visit, but they also set up near housing, highways and railways. In 1941, a wolf's nest with young ones was found just 200 m from the Moscow-Leningrad highway. In the Zheltukhinsky district of the Ryazan region, a she-wolf made a den in a section of a field overgrown with weeds, just 1.5 km from the village. Another wolf den was discovered 10 m from the Moscow-Ryazan railway, under a stack of snow shields. A she-wolf and her litter lived among a peat bog not far from a log road along which carts often passed. In the Ryazan region, a den was found in a small but dense birch tree not far from a large village (the regional center of Erakhtur) and in close proximity to a large road with busy traffic. In depth forest areas Wolves usually do not make dens. In Tataria, all found dens were located no further than 500 m from the edge of the forest, usually along ravines where there was water.

In individual landscapes, the location and structure of lairs are somewhat different. Tundra wolves use three types of shelters:

a) earthen burrows, dug independently or adapted from burrows of foxes, less often of arctic foxes. The burrow consists of an entrance trench up to 1.5 m long, an underground corridor 50-60 cm wide and 2 to 10 m long, and a nesting chamber 150 x 100 x 70 cm; the chamber is placed at a depth of 1.5 to 3.5 m; there is usually no nesting litter in it;
b) burrows under rocks of approximately the same structure, but usually shorter; c) various natural shelters (caves, crevices in rocks, etc.). The wolf's lair is usually located on the southern and southwestern slopes of river banks or hills; they are better heated by the sun and the snow melts there faster.

In the Kaninskaya tundra, wolves in the summer mostly stick to the hills. In the Leno-Khatanga Territory, burrows are usually no longer than 1.5 m and no deeper than 1 m. In the Anadyr Territory, wolves lay pups mainly in earthen burrows.

In the northern forest regions, wolves settle in dry manes among swamps, in islands of coniferous forests with abundant dead wood, and in young coniferous growth. They prefer burnt moss swamps, especially their edges that are difficult to pass and overgrown with impassable small forests. Wolves settle in wet tussock alder forests and on islands of dry, but dense forest with spruce undersowing, especially rarely visited by people.

For wolves living in the forests of the Urals and Siberia, the lair for the brood is usually located directly on the surface of the ground, under bushes, an upturned tree, etc. For wolves in open steppe and forest-steppe areas, the lair is often located in a hole and, as a rule, a stranger - a fox , badger or marmot. Burrows were found in the steppes and far from watering places - up to 12 km (Borzinsky steppes). They were located in open places, usually elevated. On South Eastern Siberia The wolf's lair was on a cape near the pad, where only a few birches grew, but it was dry there and the she-wolf had a good view, which ensured safety from a sudden attack.

In Belarus, a litter of 6 wolf cubs was found in a fallen hollow alder tree on a small hillock among alder thickets.

In the central black earth regions, wolf dens are located in young and old deciduous and mixed island forests, in steppe ravines and ravines overgrown with shrubs, in reed and willow thickets of swamps, among coastal swamps, and sometimes even in old straw sweeps and in the remains of stacks. In the steppe part of the Voronezh region, wolves breed mainly in “yarugs” - ravines densely overgrown with small oak trees. In forests, dens are made under the upturned roots of windfall trees, sometimes in fox and badger holes. In the fields, predators use old military trenches, and in ravines - holes and excavations.

Recently, cases of she-wolves transferring wolf cubs to raised grain crops and establishing lairs here in close proximity to villages have become more frequent. In the Kantemirovsky district of the Kamensk region, in the fall of 1953, a hole with two exits was found, located in a rye field, where wolves successfully raised young ones. Such lairs are not uncommon here. In the Chernigov region, a she-wolf made a den and raised wolf cubs in the hemp of a collective farmer's plot, 10 yards from the house. In the Kovertsovsky district of the Volyn region, a brood of wolves lived in a rye crop 300 m from the huts. The lair was built in a hole near an uprooted stump. Such cases are known in Sumy, Zhytomyr and other regions. In the Donetsk region, the wolves' den was located 150-200 m from the highway, a very busy road.

In the forested regions of Ukraine, dens are often made on islands among sphagnum and other swamps, in dense growth of young growth and in forest islands with dense bushes among fields. In forest-steppe regions, dens are located in deep forest ravines, in small forests along river valleys, in impenetrable alder forests in hummocky swamps (they are sometimes called “wolf forests”).

In the forest-steppe part of the Omsk region, for dens, the wolf chooses manes among swamps, ravines overgrown with bushes, wormwood thickets in virgin lands and island forests. In the steppe part of Ukraine, dens are often found in blind ravines with thickets of thorny bushes and weeds, in depressions between sandy mounds overgrown with willow and other bushes, and in the floodplains of the Dnieper and Dniester - along thickets of reeds and in other strong places. In the forest-steppe and steppes of Kazakhstan, brood burrows are found in the forest, on the edge and in open places, usually among weeds or in bushes at a distance of less than 1 km from a watering hole. In the Borovoye nature reserve, the wolf's den was located in a cave on a hill covered with a pine forest; this lair was plundered three times and she-wolves were killed near it twice.

Burrows dug by a wolf in the steppe are usually 2-5 m long, rarely more, have one or two exits and a nest at a depth of 1-1.5 m from the surface. Old, repeatedly used holes have very wide passages into which a person can easily crawl, and several nesting chambers; the entrances to old chambers are often filled in by wolves when a new one is made. Open dens are made under the protection of bushes or weeds. In the North Kazakhstan region, an open den was found in the reeds of an almost dry lake; the nest was placed in big crease in a storage shed with shallow water around it. In the middle of the same lake, the she-wolf dragged a large pile of cattails and reeds and gave birth to 7 wolf cubs on it.

In the desert zone of Kazakhstan, wolves give birth to cubs both in burrows and in open dens. The burrows in the southern Balkhash region were located on salt marshes. They were 7 and 8 meters long and 1-1.5 m deep. In sandy hillocks overgrown with saxaul, the lair was dug at the top of the hillock under the roots of saxaul and was a simple niche where 6 wolf cubs lay. One hole was located in dense saxaul forest in the valley of the river. Or. Here, open dens were also found in reed thickets and under a thala bush. In Kazakhstan, out of 24 wolf lairs, 14 were located in holes dug by a she-wolf, 1 in a badger hole, 1 in a cave, 1 in a niche, and 7 were open (in weeds, talniks or reeds).

In Turkmenistan, wolves breed on the plains - in gullies in the cliffs along the Uzboy, in the gorges of Kopet-Dag, near rivers and springs, mainly in shaded places, under overhanging rocks, etc. Sometimes the dens are located in dense thickets of comb grass (Tamarix) or other shrubs and in the thicket of tugai. In Armenia, predators often use narrow caves, cracks and gullies for burrows.

In the Kyrgyz mountain steppe, on the syrts and in the foothills, wolves usually make a nest in a hole dug in a ravine, under a bush or in another sheltered place. On mountain slopes they use cracks in rocks, overhanging stone slabs, marmot holes, etc.

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It is this predator that is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds.

Taxonomy

Russian name - wolf, gray wolf, common wolf, Eurasian wolf, etc.
Latin name- Canis lupus
English name - Wolf
Order - carnivores (Carnivora)
Family - canids (Canidae)
The genus is wolf (Canis), also includes the jackal and coyote. Some taxonomists distinguish the dog as a separate species, others consider it a subspecies of the wolf - Canis lupus familiaris.

There are a lot of wolf subspecies, some of them have become extinct by now.

Conservation status of the species

The wolf is a common predator in Russia, its numbers are regulated. In many regions of Europe and North America it is protected by law.

Species and man

The relationship between man and wolf is very complex. At first they developed quite peacefully. Primitive people, paying tribute to the intelligence and strength of the beast, often chose it as their totem, endowing it with mystical properties; in mythology, the wolf personified belligerence. Along with the fox and the bear, he was an indispensable character in folk beliefs and fairy tales. True, in Russian folk art he, oddly enough, more often appears as an imbecile whom everyone deceives.

The constant proximity and intelligence of the beast undoubtedly served as the reason for its domestication by ancient man. The domestication of this predator occurred several thousand years ago, most likely independently, in Europe, southern Asia, and possibly in Central America. Modern genetic studies have confirmed the origin of numerous dog breeds from the wolf.

As modern civilization developed, primarily in Europe, the man-wolf relationship became increasingly conflictual: the wolf was increasingly seen as an enemy, and was assigned the role of evil spirit, werewolf. The main reason was the use of the same food resources by humans and animals, primarily domestic ungulates. In England, for example, the development of sheep farming led to the extermination of this predator already in the 16th century. In Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries, a real war was declared on it; the number of wolves began to rapidly decline everywhere. What saved the animal from complete destruction was its ability to quickly restore its numbers when the persecution became less active.

Attitudes towards the wolf began to change radically in the middle of the last century in connection with the modern understanding of the principles of organization natural communities. The wolf's important role as a regulator of the number of wild ungulates was recognized; it began to be called the “forest orderly.” Indeed, after the destruction of predators, the reproduction of wild ungulates occurs so rapidly that the vegetation suffers, making it impossible for some tree species to regenerate. Artificial regulation of ungulate populations did not lead to the desired results, so it was necessary to call on a natural “regulator” - the wolf. In addition, the transition from natural grazing of herds to intensive livestock farming made domestic animals less accessible to the wolf, which means it ceased to be a competitor and enemy.

Currently in some regions of North America and Western Europe Work is underway to return the wolf to the wild. In such places it becomes a protected species.

The relationship between man and wolf develops in a special way near large cities. First of all, it is attracted by permanent, easily accessible sources of food - cattle burial grounds and slaughterhouses. Wolves willingly settle next to them and cease to be afraid of people and technology. This does not cause any harm to the urban population, unless the wolves get rabies. However, these same places are often visited by stray dogs. Usually a dog is a desirable prey for a wolf, but it happens that large, strong dogs give birth to puppies from their wild ancestors. These wolf-dog hybrids are more daring predators than wolves; they are dangerous even to people, because they neglect the caution that makes a wolf stay away from a person. It is characteristic that mixed packs of wolf-dog hybrids, wolves and feral dogs most often arise where humans are actively exterminating wild predators: nature does not tolerate a vacuum and fills the ecological vacuum with a kind of “surrogate”.

This predator is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds

This predator is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds

This predator is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds

This predator is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds

This predator is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds

This predator is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds

This predator is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds

This predator is the progenitor of dogs of all breeds

Distribution and habitats

The wolf's distribution area is very large; most recently it covered almost all of Eurasia (except for its extreme southeast) and North America. Currently, due to direct persecution by humans, the animal has disappeared in almost all of Western and Central Europe, in many areas of North America, and on the Japanese Islands. In Russia, wolves are found almost everywhere. The wolf is one of the most ecologically flexible species; it can live in the most different places Oh. However, this predator is most common in open landscapes - tundra and forest-tundra, forest-steppe and steppe, subalpine mountain belt. It avoids dense, cluttered forests, and in winter, places with loose, deep snow cover. Everywhere the animal prefers to stay close to water.

Appearance and morphology

The wolf is the largest animal among the representatives of the canine family, powerful, proportionally built. Body length is on average 105–160 cm, shoulder height 80–85, sometimes up to 100 cm, body weight 32–50 kg. The maximum recorded weight of a wolf from the natural population is 79 kg. Males are always slightly larger than females, with a thicker head. The wolf's legs are slender, tall, the paws are small and, unlike a dog's, the toes are tightly clenched, which allows one to distinguish the tracks of a wolf and a large dog. The head and neck are very powerful, the muzzle is very elongated and is framed on the sides by “whiskers”. The tail is quite long, thick and, unlike a dog's, always straight. The teeth and jaws are so strong that they can crush the largest bones. The wolf's fur is thick and quite long.

Contrary to the name “gray wolf,” the coloration, as well as the size of this predator, are subject to great individual and geographic variability. Light, almost white animals live in the far north of the range. Timber wolves are smaller, gray-brown, medium in size. Desert inhabitants are the smallest, their color has more fawn tones. In the highlands Central Asia The size of wolves is the same as that of forest wolves, but the color is bright ocher. In North America there are wolves that are almost black in color.

The wolf's senses are superbly developed. Well developed higher nervous activity it is combined with strength, agility, running speed and other physical characteristics that greatly increase the chances of this predator in the struggle for existence. If necessary, the wolf reaches speeds of up to 55–60 km/h, is capable of traveling up to 60–80 km per night, and on average travels more than 20 km per day (in the forest zone). A calmly walking or running wolf amazes with the ease of its movements - it seems to spread over the ground, as if flying over its surface. Apparently, this is why a group of wolves is more often called a flock, like birds.

Nutrition and feeding behavior

The wolf is a typical predator, obtaining food independently by actively searching for and pursuing victims.

Wolves hunt everywhere large mammals, mainly on ungulates. However, their preferences are determined by the degree of food availability, and the animals that predominate in each particular area become prey. In the tundra these are reindeer; in the forest zone - elk or wild boar, in other areas - deer or roe deer; V steppe zone- antelopes. Along with large animals, small animals - hares, gophers, and mouse-like rodents - play an important role in the diet of wolves, especially during the years of their mass reproduction. In the warm season, wolves catch a lot of voles, lemmings and other small animals; on this food they fatten up well for the winter and even get fat. In summer, wolves do not miss the opportunity to eat a clutch of eggs, chicks sitting in a nest, or birds feeding on the ground. The prey of wolves is sometimes foxes, raccoon dogs, as well as domestic dogs, which wolves sometimes hunt on purpose, boldly abducting them on village streets, right from the yard and almost in front of the hunters’ eyes. They also eat carrion. Wolves hide the uneaten remains of their prey by burying them in the ground or covering them with branches, and when hungry, they return to them. During a period of mass locust invasion, predators happily feed on it.

Like other canids, wolves eat quite a lot of plant foods. In the south in the summer they visit melon fields, and in the forest zone they enjoy eating berries. When the fruits of wild pears and apple trees ripen, these predators eat carrion in large quantities.

Wolves are skilled and resourceful hunters, and their behavior is very complex. Even when hunting together in the summer, wolves often practice division of duties, when one becomes a beater, and the second hides in ambush. The first of them acts very carefully, gradually, step by step, directing the intended victim to his partner. In a pack chasing an elk or deer, often some predators run on the heels of the intended victim, while others run across them, or they coward slowly and, having rested, replace the leaders. At the same time, the animals display amazing tirelessness and perseverance. Still others sit in ambush and in right moment make a decisive move.

When choosing prey among large ungulates, wolves are guided by a special sense that allows them to assess the physical condition of potential prey. In the Canadian tundra, for example, they observed how wolves hunt musk oxen, having previously run a race with them. During such runs, predators mark their prey and then purposefully pursue only it. Scientists examined the remains of these victims: in many cases it was possible to establish that the animals were sick.

Vocalization

The vocal repertoire of wolves is very diverse: they growl, snort, whine, squeal, and even bark. However, the most famous is the wolf howl - a means of communication over long distances. Males and females, adults and young, howl differently, which corresponds not only to their different vocal abilities, but also to their social status. An adult male sings in a bass voice, females usually start with low tones and gradually raise them, wolves of other ages sing in a treble, discordant, with a squeal. They howl both alone and in chorus. During a group howl, animals “adjust” to the “soloist” - the rhythm is synchronized, the tone is evened out. It turns out to be a real choir. The wolf howl serves as a means of consolidating the pack, which is why it is most often heard in autumn and winter.

In addition to the function of notifying neighbors that the territory is occupied, the howl carries a much greater information load. Thanks to the howl, the members of the pack always know where each of them is, and what he is doing, and they know where their neighbors are hunting. Moreover, wolves appear to transmit information to each other about the location of potential prey. Thus, researcher Farley Mowat observed in the Canadian tundra how wolves transmitted information over long distances along a chain that the caribou deer they were expecting had moved south and were in certain place. In this case, the wolf first listens to information coming from another wolf, which may be several kilometers away. Then the transmitter throws his head back and howls a vibrating howl: low at first, but ending on the highest note still perceivable by human hearing. A check of the wolf's report of caribou confirmed the case. Wolves can also inform each other about the appearance of people.

Social organization, behavior

Throughout most of their lives, wolves live in family groups. The basis of each group is a breeding pair, which most often remains for life, unless one of the partners dies. During breeding (spring-summer) the pair stays isolated. Closer to autumn, adults and young yearlings are joined by adult non-breeding animals and young wolves from last year's litter - this is how a flock of 6–12 animals is formed. If the flock turns out to be too large, it splits into two, or individuals are forced out of it, who follow the flock for some time and then go in search of new places.

The breeding female is the leader of the group, and all other females obey her. Among the males, the main one is her “husband”, who is dominant among other males. Within the same family group, relationships between animals are very friendly. When they are full, they rest, lying close to each other, brush their fur, or simply take a nap.

Young people play a lot. The games are very active, they include running, ambush attacks, and power struggles. It is during play interactions that behavioral roles are distributed: some of the teenagers will become a good beater in the future, some are better at sneaking up than others, some have a lightning-fast throw. Fights often break out between young animals, which can even lead to serious injuries. This is how hierarchical relationships are built, which in adults are no longer supported by open aggression, but by characteristic demonstrative behavior.

Different groups of wolves do not contact each other often; each group marks its areas with urine, and neighbors know the boundaries well. When hunting and moving, groups avoid each other as much as possible. When meeting, the animals show wariness, but, as a rule, things don’t come to blows; the animals limit themselves to ritual poses. IN natural conditions the plots of different families do not touch; between them there are quite wide buffer zones where young people can move, and which can be used by wolves from different families in turn.

The repertoire of demonstration poses and facial expressions that wolves use when communicating with each other is very wide. The position of the ears, head, tail, lips, coat is important - everything that the domestic dog inherited from the wolf. A wolf's tail is not as mobile as a dog's, however, its signal meaning is approximately the same: wagging means joy and greeting, tucked between the legs expresses submission and fear, extended at the same level with the back - a sign of strength and independence. The combination of different elements of postures is important: for example, if a wolf purses its lips and presses its ears with a growl, this is a threat, if the same thing, but with a squeal, it is a greeting. These are those expressive poses and actions that a person can notice. Researchers who have studied wolves note that wolves often communicate simply by looking: for example, the leader approaches one of the members of the pack and looks into the eyes, after which he goes and does what he was “told.” An outside observer can only be amazed at how members of the same family understand each other.

Reproduction and raising offspring

The rutting season for wolves occurs at the end of winter - beginning of spring and lasts about a month. From the very beginning of the rut, the couple tries to isolate themselves; the male drives away other family members who move away, but continue to stay in their native territory. The family often gets together to hunt, but when they have had enough, the couple leaves. Closer to the middle of the rut, wolves can form rutting packs: attracted by the scent of a she-wolf, the pair is relentlessly followed by 1–3 more males from neighboring territories. A characteristic feature of rutting flocks is the presence of only one female. Such a flock is on the move most of the day. Despite the persistent pursuit, the couple manages to retire from time to time, and then mating occurs. Young animals that have formed a pair for the first time play a lot, chasing each other and gently biting their partner. Females participating in the rut for the first time can go far from the parental territory along with their “escort”, and often do not return, remaining in a new place and exploring new areas.

After the end of the rut, life returns to normal. The family unites, with the few exceptions of young wolves who left during the rut.

Puppies, usually 2–6, appear after 62–65 days in the den, where now the mother does not even allow the father. They are born blind, with closed ear openings, covered with sparse brown fur, and gain sight in 9–12 days. For 3 weeks, while the wolf cubs are in the hole, the mother practically does not leave them. All this time, the father brings and leaves food for his girlfriend at the entrance to the den. Meat food gradually appears on the menu of babies from the age of one month, and within 2–3 months they do not have enough enzymes, and their parents regurgitate semi-digested meat for them. Milk feeding lasts a long time, almost 4 months; at this age, wolf cubs already hunt rodents. Later, they begin to take part in group hunts for larger animals, but for another year they remain in secondary roles.

She-wolves reach sexual maturity in the second year of life, males only at three years of age, but, as a rule, at this age they have not yet found a mate.

Lifespan

In nature, wolves rarely live longer than 8–10 years; in captivity, their life expectancy is twice as long.

Keeping animals at the Moscow Zoo

Wolves are permanent residents of our zoo. As a rule, they come to us as puppies and live their lives to a ripe old age. Several years ago, wolves were kept not only in the exhibition area of ​​the zoo, but also in the visiting section - they went to lectures along with other animals in schools, kindergartens, and lecture halls. Now there are no wolves among the “traveling” animals for several reasons. Firstly, no one believed us that these were wolves and not dogs - they behaved completely like dogs. Secondly, it turned out that wolves get terribly sick in the car, and the third reason, which follows from the second: unpleasant sensations on the road caused the animals to have a negative attitude not only towards travel, but also towards the people who forced them to travel, and this is already very dangerous .

Now gray wolves live only in a special enclosure located opposite the Skating Circle. Animals are very happy about people who look after them, greeting them with wagging tails and smiles, just like dogs.

Sometimes they howl: more often at night, but sometimes in the evening. The wolf song is mesmerizing. Once upon a time, wolves, jackals and foxes lived in neighboring enclosures at the zoo. The wolves usually started the “singing”, the jackals picked it up, and then the foxes joined. Everyone sang in their own way, but the choir turned out amazing. For some reason, this coincided with the operation of the zoo’s loudspeaker, so it was possible to “turn on” this choir on purpose.

A pair of wolves currently living in the zoo are young animals that arrived in 2013 from the Zoo Nursery, where they came from different places. The male was born in the Veliky Ustyug Zoo, and the female was picked up by people as a puppy and, when she grew up, was transferred to the Zoo Nursery. Rada (that’s the female’s name) turned out to be very calm and friendly, the male, on the contrary, was afraid of everything and tried to avoid contact with people. He was called Tarzan for his high jumps. After the required quarantine, they were introduced, and Tarzan was replaced. The panicky behavior disappeared, and from being distrustful the animal became simply cautious. Soon the animals were released into the exhibition enclosure, where they became perfectly accustomed.

The couple is very friendly; if one of the partners has to be separated, the other gets bored: he doesn’t eat well, doesn’t go out for walks much. It is very easy to distinguish a wolf from a she-wolf: Rada is smaller, more graceful, and the very tip of her right ear is white - light fur has grown on a place damaged in childhood. Tarzan is a large, foreheaded beast. He keeps his tail down almost all the time, like an insecure dog. When they drive past the enclosure big cars(and this is inevitable during reconstruction), he gets very nervous and hides.

Zoo staff devote a lot of time to the wolves: the animals must learn to enter the interior room on command, allow themselves to be locked there, allow them to touch, examine them, and even allow them to receive injections (vaccinations). Training is carried out in “protected contact”, through a grid. Thus, on the one hand, the territory of the animal is not disturbed, on the other hand, the person is protected from large predators.

The wolves are fed by hand, through a grid, with meat once a day, and given hydroponic greens and various vitamin and mineral supplements. Like all predators, 1 day a week is hungry. You can often see how wolves set up storerooms: they bury pieces of meat in the ground and compact it with their nose. Usually crows carefully watch their actions - when the animals move away or lie down to rest, the birds are right there. During the day, wolves rest, often indoors, so it is better to “visit” them in the morning or late afternoon.

The genus of wolves is one of the smallest
Among mammals, the genus of wolves is one of the smallest. It includes only 7 species: wolf (Canis lupus); common jackal (Canis aureus); coyote (Canis latrans); red wolf (Canis rufus); black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas); striped jackal (Canis adustus); Ethiopian jackal (Canis simensis), wild and domestic dogs. In addition, all foxes, arctic foxes, raccoon dogs and maned wolves belong to the wolf family.

Appeared about 1 million years ago
The wolf evolved from carnivorous predators that lived 100 million years ago, and dogs evolved from the wolf about 20 million years ago. As a species, Canis lupus emerged in Eurasia about 1 million years ago, and by the end of the Pleistocene it became the most widespread predator.

Ancestors of wolves
Dogs and wolves descended from miacids, which lived on earth 50 million years ago. Their immediate ancestors were the race of predatory mammals Hesperocyon (35 million years ago). During the Miocene, the Canidae Family was distinguished from Borophaginae mammals. Fossil remains of representatives of the Canis family were found in Spain and date back to 7 million years. The immediate ancestors of the American steppe wolf settled in North America between 4 and 2 million years ago. During this period, the Etruscan wolf (Canis etruscus) lived in Europe, which became the direct ancestor of European wolves (Canis lupus). Formation modern look happened 1 million years ago.

Most common predator
Among all land mammals, wolves Canis lupus have the widest habitat. Currently, only the gray rat, with the help of humans, has been able to spread wider than the wolf. Wolves live in many areas of Europe, Asia and North America, where only large ungulates are found: from the taiga, coniferous forests and icy tundra to deserts. The northern border of the wolf's distribution is the coast of the Northern Arctic Ocean. In the south of Asia, in Hindustan, the wolf is distributed up to approximately 16" northern latitude. In its range, the wolf is very variable; there are many subspecies that differ in size, color, and some lifestyle features. Zoologists identify several dozen subspecies of the wolf. The largest wolves inhabit the tundra, the smallest are the southern regions.

Between a coyote and a wolf
American zoologists believe that the states of Texas, Pennsylvania and Florida are inhabited by special kind- Red Wolf. This very rare animal survives in small numbers in southwestern North America. It occupies a sort of intermediate position between a coyote and a wolf, given its size and some other characteristics. Some zoologists consider it a hybrid of a wolf and a coyote, others consider it a special subspecies of the wolf, and still others give it a separate species status.

Wolves large and small
There are 41 species in the canine family. Wolves of northern populations are larger, while wolves of southern populations are smaller. On average, the length from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail is 1000 - 1300 mm (males), 870 - 1170 mm (females). Tail length 350 - 520 mm. Weight 30 -80 kg (males), average 55 kg, 23 -55 kg (females), average 45 kg. Height at the withers (from the base of the paw to the shoulder) 60 - 90 cm.

Wolf color
... varies depending on the distribution area. In the Arctic there are white individuals, other colors are variants of white with gray, brown, cinnamon, black, and sometimes completely black. North American populations have three color phases. The first (normal) is a mixture of black, gray and cinnamon with a brown top. The second is black (a mixture of black and dark brown). The third phase is gray with brown. The similarly colored wolves Canis lupus differ from coyotes (Canis latrans) and red wolves (Canis rufus) in size (they are 50-100% larger), wide muzzle, shorter ears and higher paws.

Thick fur
Thick fur up to 8 centimeters long protects the wolf from frost. The layer of fur closest to the body is the undercoat, and the outer layer is formed by hard, long, black-tipped guard hairs. They repel water and the undercoat does not get wet. Fleet-footed deer can run away, and moose can give a worthy rebuff: these 600-kilogram giants with sharp antlers and heavy hooves can easily break a wolf’s skull.

Wolf teeth
The wolf's weapon is teeth. There are as many as 42 of them in his mouth. Four sharp, crooked 5-centimeter fangs stick out in front - two on top and two on bottom. With them the wolf can bite through the thick skin of the victim. And with predatory, or carnivorous, teeth - this is what the molars of all predators are called - an adult wolf even gnaws the femur of an elk.

Smell and Hearing
When hunting, the nose, and not the ears or eyes, is the first to tell wolves where to look for prey. In the wind, they catch the smell of even the smallest animal located 1-2 kilometers away from them, when it is not yet heard or seen. Thanks to their keen sense of smell, wolves can follow the tracks of their prey. A hunter needs keen hearing, and wolves are lucky in this regard. When they hear a noise, they move their ears and determine where the sound comes from. The sound source may be several kilometers away.

Moves silently and quickly
Wolves hunt almost silently because they run on the very tips of their fingers. Just like horses and cats, a wolf's heel does not touch the ground. He has strong, muscular legs and a sweeping gait, and can trot for long periods at a speed of 9 km/h, and can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h when chasing deer and elk.

Social life of a wolf
Wolves live in families of 2 to 15, usually 4 to 8 animals. A pack is a family group consisting of animals of different ages. Typically, a flock consists of parents, newborns (this year's brood) and youngsters (animals that have not reached sexual maturity). But very often it also includes several adult animals, apparently not taking part in reproduction. In years with abundant food, up to 30 wolves or more can gather in a family. Young wolves usually stay with the family for 10-54 months, after which they leave.

The flock is a self-regulating mechanism
If the population density is low, then the flocks are small, and the separation of the younger generation occurs faster. Under favorable environmental conditions, the population density increases; in this case, the size of the flock increases, but up to a certain limit. Growth occurs only due to non-pack lone wolves occupying a subordinate position. Thus, in a pack there is a “core” of wolves with high social status and subordinate wolves. When the environment deteriorates, at the birth of a new generation, it is the subordinate male wolves who independently leave the pack, and the females are expelled by the most important female.

Males and females in a flock
A pack of wolves consists of an a-male, an a-female, a b-male, low-ranking wolves of both sexes, and pups outside the hierarchy. During the mating season and before it, the a-female is extremely aggressive towards all mature females. Although she prefers the a-male, she can also mate with other sexually mature males, including low-ranking ones. But she still maintains the greatest number of contacts with the a-male. After the rut, her aggressiveness drops sharply, and she behaves friendly towards all members of the pack, which helps to establish a climate favorable for raising puppies in the family.
The A-male, in Tsimena’s figurative expression, “tolerant boss,” is the real leader in the pack - he is friendly towards all its members, but is extremely aggressive towards strangers. Almost all the activity of the pack is concentrated around him, and he also holds leadership in marking behavior.
The B male is the most likely successor to the A male. Usually this is the son or brother of a-male or a-female, or their common one. Thus, he is closely related to the puppies, being their older brother or uncle. The B-male exhibits high aggression towards low-ranking members of the pack, but sometimes it is also directed at high-ranking ones. The B-male, demonstrating aggression towards the A-male, periodically checks the latter’s status, since he is his successor in the hierarchy and is constantly ready to take his place.
The role of low-ranking males is determined primarily by the advantages that the flock receives from collective hunts for large ungulates, often larger in size than the predators themselves. The chances of low-ranking males leaving offspring are very limited. They are forced to wait for a long time for their turn in the hierarchical leadership goal. At the same time, such animals are the most likely candidates for a leading position when joining a new flock.

Family hunting plot
The survival of a pack depends on the size of its hunting grounds, so wolves protect them tooth and nail. Wolves mark the boundaries of the territory (it can be 50-1500 sq. km, depending on what animals the pack hunts) with odorous marks - they spray stumps and large stones with urine - and notify neighbors about their rights by howling. Family groups of wolves living in the same territory are closely related; the areas of neighboring families may overlap, but they never collide. If there is an abundance of food, then many generations of wolves live in one area.

The size of a family's territory depends greatly on the landscape
...and fluctuates within very wide limits. The largest family plots are in open landscapes of tundra, steppe or semi-desert, where they reach 1000 - 1250 km2. In the forest zone they are smaller - 200 - 250 km2.

Border signs
Wolves mark their territory with urine, feces, or by leaving scratches on paths, fallen trees, and isolated stumps. When wolf droppings dry, they become white and in the open are visible from a great distance. It seems that wolves sometimes specifically choose the most visible places to leave droppings. In Altai, droppings of a large wolf were found on the seat of a mower, which rose about one and a half meters above the ground. The mower itself stood for many days in the middle of a spacious clearing, very visible from the road, along which wolves regularly walked, gathering in places where deer roared.

Wolves roam
When wolves do not have small cubs, they rarely live permanently in one place. For the most part, animals go quite far and leave their habitable places for several days or weeks, only to return here again when they find prey. The wolf undertakes its wanderings both in packs and alone, makes its way along mountain ranges, passes through large steppes, moves from one forest to another and, as a result, sometimes appears in areas where wolves have not been seen for several years in a row. It has been proven that during these wanderings, wolves run from 40 to 70 kilometers in one night.

They gather in flocks in winter
In spring and summer, the wolf lives alone or in pairs, in the fall - with a whole family, in winter these predators sometimes gather in packs, the size of which depends on the conditions of the area where they live. If a wolf and a she-wolf form a pair, then their union almost never breaks up; in the spring, pairs are necessarily formed; In large flocks, males predominate.

Sign language
They express their feelings through facial expressions and body movements. "Wolf's tongue" unites the pack and helps it act as one.

Tail
If the tail is raised and its tip is slightly curved, this means that the wolf is quite confident in itself. A friendly wolf has a lowered tail, but its very tip points upward. A wolf with its tail between its legs is either afraid of something or is communicating its sympathy. The way a wolf holds its tail indicates its position in the pack. Among the leaders it is raised high, among their “subjects” it is lowered, and those at the lowest level in the wolf family have their tail between their legs. By dancing and wagging its tail, the wolf invites its relatives to play.

Welcome Ceremony
Pack members show love and respect to the leader in a welcoming ceremony. Crawling, with ears flattened and fur smoothed, they approach the leader or his mate, lick and carefully bite his face.

Aggression and tolerance
Thanks to mutual tolerance, it is possible to unite a flock during group hunts, accompanied by fine coordination of the actions of its members. Behavioral mechanisms based on mutual tolerance and the desire for unification prevail in the daily life of the pack. Frequency of aggressive contacts in wolves in natural and artificial conditions, probably very different. Limited space does not allow wolves to avoid mutual psychological pressure, maintaining a constantly high general level of aggressiveness. For animals with a highly developed psyche, such as wolves, psychological relief is of great importance. In the field, we have repeatedly observed that during the day, while resting, wolves were dispersed at a distance of tens and hundreds of meters from each other. Even the puppies that grew up by the end of summer did not always stay together.

Muzzle
In a surge of tenderness, the wolves lick each other and rub their muzzles. The faces of wolves are very expressive. Frightened, the wolf presses his ears back and pretends to smile. An angry wolf bares his teeth and turns his erect ears forward. Sensing danger, he pulls his ears back, bares his teeth and sticks out his tongue.

Cruel laws of the pack
In a pack where the leader keeps order, wolves usually do not fight among themselves. However, clashes with strangers or lone wolves who trespass often occur. Each wolf pack hunts only in its own territory. The owners strictly guard and mark it, warning neighbors that they should stay away. Any uninvited guest will be punished. In large packs it often happens that one wolf is poisoned by all his relatives. Sometimes the outcast becomes completely unbearable, and he is forced to leave the pack.

When are wolves especially dangerous?
In autumn and winter, the wolf becomes much more dangerous, as it constantly wanders around the herds that are still grazing and attacks both large and small livestock, but is wary of adult horses, cows and pigs when they walk in a herd, and the wolves have not yet gathered in packs. At the beginning of winter, he comes closer and closer to villages and cities, and in small places he hunts for dogs, which he loves very much and which often constitute his only prey in some places.

They go single file
In winter, quite often, and in deep snow, packs of wolves almost always walk in single file, and each animal, like Indians on a military trail, follows each other, stepping in the same tracks if possible (lynxes do this too), so that even an experienced It can be difficult for a hunter to find out how many wolves a pack consists of.

Distribution of responsibilities during hunting
When wolves hunt in packs, they know how to distribute responsibilities among themselves very well: part of the pack chases the prey, while the other cuts its path and gnaws it to death.

Wolf vs bear
In Russia they claim that hungry packs of wolves attack the bear and, after a long fight, kill it to death. Kremenets's observations confirm that wolves sometimes disturb a bear in its winter lair, chase wounded bears and try to capture cubs.

Attack people
A flock of wolves, maddened by hunger, can, of course, attack people, even adults and armed ones, on occasion; It may happen that wolves will bite and devour a person, but in any case, the danger from wolves in those countries where there are many of them is not at all as great as it is often imagined. A lone wolf rarely attacks an adult, even armed only with a club; such behavior can only be caused by special circumstances, for example, if the wolf is mad or the she-wolf fears for her cubs.

Sitting in ambush for hours
While searching for prey, the wolf approaches the chosen victim with all possible caution, sneaks up on the animal unnoticed, with a deft leap grabs it by the throat and throws it to the ground. On forest paths, he sometimes waits for hours for prey, for example, a deer or roe deer, and in the steppe areas he patiently watches for a bobak hiding in a hole. He follows the trail of the beast with unmistakable confidence.

Hunting trick
When hunting, wolves use cunning, making sure that the prey has gone far ahead, they stop pursuing, and when the deer or elk slow down, they attack him again. Often wolves refuse an attack from an elk, which is actively defending itself, and go off to look for other prey. If an ungulate defends itself and then tries to escape, this is a clear sign of weakness; wolves pursue such a victim to the end.

Wolves understand humans worse than dogs

There is a unique connection between a person and a dog at the genetic level, which is inherited. Two containers were placed in front of the puppies and wolf cubs, in one of which meat was hidden. Then the researchers made it clear to the animals where the food was hidden: the scientists pointed to the “correct” container with gestures, touched it, or looked closely at it. The puppies won a landslide victory - best friends Each time the man quickly “guessed” where the meat was, leaving no chance for the wolves. According to their behavioral characteristics, wolves are better adapted to wild habitats, where communication with people is not the highest priority.

Attacks a fox
Foxes often become victims of wolves. If wolves meet a fox on the plain, they try to surround it immediately, and some give chase. But wolves only kill foxes, leaving them in place, and very rarely eat them. This incomprehensible feature of the predator’s behavior was noted by many zoologists. There is a superstition among hunters: where there are many wolves, foxes disappear

Distracts dogs from the herd
When attacking a herd, wolves very cunningly try to distract the dogs from it. When many wolves have gathered, and there are several dogs and shepherds with the herd, some of the wolves attack the dogs, and the other attacks the sheep.

They drive out the ungulates onto the crust
In winter, wolves often drive out ungulates at present. The relative load on the track of wolves is 2 - 3 times less than that of most ungulates. Therefore, the victims of wolves, running away on the crust, get tired very quickly, falling into deep snow, and often injure their legs on the sharp edges of the frozen snow.

Driven into an ambush or a dead end
Wolves are excellent at navigating the terrain. Many flocks constantly, year after year, use the same areas of territory to drive prey into a dead end. Such dead ends can be tree debris, scattered stones, or a dead end in the literal sense of the word - a sheer cliff or a deep ravine in a ravine. Wolves often drive saigas into dry lakes, where in autumn and spring the bottom, softened by water, turns into difficult-to-pass mud, and the ungulates move with great difficulty. Finding themselves in a dead end, ungulates begin to rush around, trying to escape from it. In rubble or piles of stones, they often break limbs and then become easy prey for wolves.

They pursue the victim for a long time
Often they can move behind the herd without giving away their presence and waiting for the right moment for decisive action. Such passive pursuit can last for many days. Prolonged active pursuit of prey is not typical for wolves. As a rule, this is a short jerk of several tens, less often - several hundred meters

Wolves can "mouse"
Like foxes, wolves can “mouse” while hunting for small rodents and insectivores. Having waited until, for example, a vole appears on the surface, the wolf jumps and crushes it with its paw and eats it. This is a common hunting technique for solitary wolves, adults and young, in the summer. In summer, the pack breaks up. In summer, when the parents feed the puppies, and the pack breaks up and predators live alone or in small groups, wolves eat insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and various mammals, on which they have also developed skillful hunting techniques. Hares are the most common victims of wolves.

Wolf diet
The wolf's diet is based on large ungulates - northern and red deer, moose, saigas, sheep and goats, caribou, in the absence of which it hunts rodents, rabbits, and eats carrion. Where there are no ungulates, there are no or very few wolves. Wolves are also attracted to large concentrations of domestic animals. In reindeer and sheep herding areas, the presence of wolves is common.

How much food does a wolf need?
A wolf requires at least 1.5 kg of food per day, and much more - 2.3 kg - for successful reproduction. Wolves can go without food for two weeks or more. On average, wolves eat 4.5 kg of meat per day, and in case of successful harvest they can eat more - up to 9 kg. The wolf, due to its bloodthirstiness, did not exterminate much more animals than it needed to satisfy itself. Wolves slaughter young ungulates, or old and sick ones. Attacks on ungulates are especially frequent in the winter months, when the wolf has clear advantages when moving through the snow.

In summer it feeds on fruits and berries
In the summer, plant foods occupy a large place in the wolf's diet: fruits, berries, greens. It was noted that in the vicinity of a family camp on an area of ​​more than one hectare, blueberries were bitten by wolves. The wolves bit off the apical shoots along with the berries. The numerous droppings of predators during the day were everywhere painted in a soft blue color. The wolves regularly fed on mulberries and apples, which fell in abundance from the trees.

Stocking feed
A characteristic feature of the feeding behavior of wolves, like many other predators, is food storage. When full, animals often bury pieces of meat. But they probably do not remember the exact location of the pantry, but rather remember the area where the victim was killed and eaten. Moving in a shuttle motion, like a pointer dog, wolves sense a storeroom, and not necessarily their own.

Howl
It is believed that wolves howl to find out about the location of members of their family, to announce the capture of prey, or simply from a desire to communicate with relatives. Under natural conditions, wolves usually howl late evening hours, less often at night and early in the morning. The howl of a wolf can be heard at a distance of 10 km. Under artificial conditions, their sound activity can greatly shift, which depends on the general activity regime of the animals, determined by the specific daily dynamics of stimuli that stimulate consolidation motivation. In artificial conditions, the behavior of wolves is largely focused on humans. Contacts with him usually have a certain rhythm. For example, in the vivarium, wolves howled most often around lunchtime, when people serving the animals usually passed by the enclosure. The wolves knew them well and reacted positively to them, as they regularly received random food from them. The expectation of people, their appearance and disappearance aroused the motivation of consolidation in the wolves. They began to whine and often the whining turned into a howl, and then into a howl. During the year, wolves howl most often in winter, when packing is at its maximum. In winter, wolves stay in the most cohesive and numerous groups, facilitating collective hunts for large ungulates. It is in winter that such hunts are especially typical for wolves. The howling activity of wolves also increases at the end of summer and at the beginning of autumn, during the period when puppies develop the territory, when they begin to move especially widely around the family area. But if in winter, during the period of packing, spontaneous group howls are more typical for wolves, then in early autumn - single and caused group howls.

Shelter
Wolves do not have a hole, with the exception of the den where the wolf breeds offspring. Usually the wolf curls up into a ball. covers his paws and nose with his tail and allows himself to be covered in snow. A wolf's den is a hole that is located high above the water level near a body of water. It is not equipped with anything from the inside. The length of the tunnel is from 1.8 to 7.5 m, sometimes longer. The wolf family returns to the same lair for many years. Wolf cubs leave the den at the age of 8 weeks.

Wolf's Lair
Wolves make their dens in sheltered, well-protected places. They can be overhangs in rocks, deep cracks, niches, gullies in ravines, and fallen trees. Wolves often use the burrows of other animals as dens: foxes, arctic foxes, badgers, and marmots. Wolves expand other people's burrows and very rarely dig their own, choosing for this purpose soft, usually sandy soil. Dens, as well as family days where wolf cubs spend the first months of life, meet two requirements: the presence of shelters from dense vegetation or microrelief and at the same time a good overview of the area, allowing you to detect danger. It is difficult to approach a wolf's lair without being noticed. As a rule, animals detect a person and manage to take cover before the person detects them.

Reproduction
Only one pair in a family breeds, this occurs in February, and in April 6-10 (usually 7) puppies are born. The eyes of wolf cubs open on the 9-12th day. At the end of the second week they usually begin to respond to sounds, and after three weeks they emerge from the nest for the first time and begin to taste meat around the same time. During the neonatal period, wolf cubs are completely helpless. The mother helps them toilet by licking under the tail. Puppies are not able to rise to their feet at this time and move around crawling. They are constantly in physical contact with their mother or with each other. Puppies sleep most of the time. The she-wolf diligently hides it from prying eyes. If the family is in any danger, the she-wolf carries her cubs one by one in her mouth to another, more secluded place. In the first days, the she-wolf is constantly with the puppies. She is fed by a wolf. He brings food in his stomach and regurgitates it to the female. Gradually, the she-wolf leaves the puppies alone, often going away for a long time in search of food. According to the observations of Y. K. Badridze, the female leaves the wolf cubs for 6.5 - 68 hours, that is, she can be absent for almost three days. The duration of the female's absence greatly depends on the abundance of food in the vicinity of the den. The more accessible it is, the less time the she-wolf leaves her puppies. Usually, when the female leaves the den, the cubs are left alone, huddling together to keep warm. The wolf is rarely in the den with them. But if the puppies crawl towards their father, he does not drive them away, warming them with the warmth of his body. When the babies have grown up, the female goes hunting with the pack, and the puppies are fed by all family members, regurgitating food for them. As they grow up, the puppies leave the den, but do not move away from it and stay close. Usually this place has a lot of vegetation and is located near water. Wolf cubs learn to hunt by attacking mice and shrews. Young wolves grow until their third year and then become capable of reproduction.

Wolf mother
does not show aggression towards people close to her children. There are known cases when hunters took the entire brood from the den, put the helpless puppies in a bag and carried them away, while the she-wolf restlessly watched at a distance and then accompanied the hunters for several kilometers to the village without making any attempts to attack.

A wolf never hunts near its nest,
This is why young roe deer and wolf cubs often play together in the same clearing. Growing wolf cubs can frolic in a completely open, clearly visible place, but such a playground must be adjacent or dense thickets, or a pile of stones and labyrinths of passages in rocks and ravines. In these shelters, wolf cubs, and even adult wolves, instantly “dissolve” without betraying their presence in any way.

Foxes destroy wolf cubs
A case of a male fox destroying a litter of wolves in the Badkhyz Nature Reserve in Turkmenistan is described. The wolf cubs were about three weeks old, and they were left without parents for a long time, since for some reason there was no male, and the she-wolf was forced to leave the den for a long time.

Young wolves die
Young wolves, whose mother is killed, often disappear without a trace, and, in all likelihood, their graves become the stomachs of old wolves. If the wolf cubs are not disturbed in their nest, then this should be attributed more to the vigilance of the mother than to the love of the father.

Wolves-fathers
The father participates in obtaining food for the cubs, but the issue of this should be considered not yet resolved. Only later, when the young wolves grow up, does the mother bring them to the old wolves, and they accept the babies into their society, always respond to their squeals with a howl, teach them, warn about danger and howl pitifully if the cubs die.

How long do wolves live?
Wolves can live 12-15 years; many of them die of hunger, others die from a variety of diseases to which they are susceptible in the same way as dogs.

The wolves were exterminated
Under human influence, the wolf's range has sharply declined over the past 200 - 250 years. Man exterminates the wolf, protecting herds of domestic animals, and displaces it from densely populated areas. The wolf is currently absent from Japan and the British Isles. It has been exterminated in France, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, and throughout Central Europe.

Rare beast
In the northern hemisphere, the wolf is considered a rare animal and is listed on the CITES List (Appendix I) of India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal and (Appendix II) in other countries. In North America, the gray wolf is an endangered species in Mexico and 48 U.S. states (except Minnesota, where the species is listed as endangered). The protection of wolves comes down to preserving the usual habitats of wolves, preventing wolf hybridization with domestic dogs, and educational activities among the population that has long persecuted wolves.

Norway is cleared of predatory animals

The Association of Norwegian Forest Owners has announced its intention to seek the destruction of wolves in Norway, as well as a reduction in the numbers of other large predators and bears, lynxes and wolverines.

Wolves take over Swedish forests

The number of wolves in Scandinavia began to decline rapidly at the beginning of the 20th century. By 1960 it was believed that they had completely disappeared. However, in the mid-1980s, wolves suddenly appeared again in Sweden. Research by scientists has shown that they came here after traveling almost 1000 km from neighboring Finland. The periodic arrival of new animals from the east helps to improve the health of the small population, which is threatened by degeneration due to inbreeding. There are currently about 100 wolves in Scandinavia, including 10 actively breeding groups.

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