What type of animal is the wolf? Gray wolf (common)

Less than half of the historical “reserve”. This is the number of wolf species on the planet. There are 7 living species of predators. 2 more have sunk into oblivion. Four of the existing species are listed in Red. One of the four wolves was even declared missing. However, scientists managed to film “the last of the Mohicans” on video cameras.

Extinct wolf species

Since ancient times, wolves have been endowed with demonic powers. It is not for nothing that the image of gray was attributed to the dark essence of man. This is how the mythical character appeared - the werewolf. It does not belong to the official species of grays, and the existence of wolf-people has not been proven.

Another question is the existence of 8 ancient species of predator. Their existence has been proven through skeletal finds, drawings and records from bygone eras.

dire wolf

This predator lived back in the late Pleistocene. This is one of the eras of the Quaternary period. It began 2.5 million years ago and ended 11 thousand years ago. So primitive people hunted dire wolves.

The animal became extinct in the last glacial period. There were several of them during the Pleistocene. The latter was distinguished by the severity of the frosts.

Appearance of a wolf terrible lived up to its name. The predator was one and a half meters long and weighed over 100 kilograms. Modern wolves are never larger than 75 kilos, that is, at least a third less. The bite force of prehistoric ones was just as superior to the grip of modern grays.

Lived dire wolf in Northern. The remains of the animal were found in Florida, Mexico City, and California. Wolves from the east and center of the continent had longer legs. Skeletons found in Mexico City and California have short legs.

Kenai wolf

That's who should be called terrible. However, the remains of the Kenai Gray were found later than the prehistoric one. The animal, which once lived in Alaska, reached a length of 2.1 meters. This does not include the 60 cm tail. The height of the wolf exceeded 1.1 meters. The predator weighed about a hundredweight. Such dimensions allowed the predator to hunt moose.

The existence of the Kenai Gray was established by studying wolf skulls found in Alaska. According to research, the species was described in 1944 by Edward Goldman. This is an American zoologist.

The Kenai wolf became extinct by the 1910s. The beast was exterminated by settlers who arrived in Alaska. Predators died while being hunted and due to the use of strychnine by people. It is obtained from the seeds of the cherry grass and is used to kill rodents.

Newfoundland wolf

He lived not only on the island of Newfoundland, but also on the east coast of Canada. Describing wolf species criteria, it is worth mentioning first of all the black stripe along the ridge on a snow-white background. The indigenous people of Newfoundland called the predator Beothuk.

The Newfoundland gray was exterminated by settlers. For them, the predator was a threat to livestock. Therefore, the government set a reward for the killed wolves. Each one was given 5 pounds. In 1911, the last island gray was shot. The species was officially declared extinct in 1930.

Tasmanian marsupial wolf

In fact, he was not a wolf. The animal was compared to the gray one due to its external resemblance. However, the Tasmanian predator was a marsupial. Still premature cubs “came out” into the skin fold on the abdomen. In the bag they developed to the point where they could go out into the world.

Transverse stripes ran along the back of the Tasmanian wolf. They encouraged associations with zebra or. In terms of body structure, the marsupial resembled a short-haired dog.

Official name species - thylacine. The last one was shot in 1930. There were still a few animals left in zoos. The Tasmanian wolf lived there until 1936.

Japanese wolf

He was short-eared and short-legged, lived on the islands of Sikoko, Honshu and Kyushu. The last animal of the species was shot in 1905. 5 stuffed Japanese wolves have been preserved. One of them is exhibited at the University of Tokyo. The other four stuffed animals are also in Tokyo, but already in National Museum.

Japanese animal species wolf was small. The body length of the predator was no more than a meter. The animal weighed approximately 30 kilos.

In the 21st century, Japanese scientists reconstructed the genome of the extinct wolf. Protein compounds were isolated from the enamel of the teeth of the disappeared animal. The fangs were taken from the skeletons found. Squirrels were planted on the skin of modern wolves. It turned out that the genome of island grays differs by 6% from the DNA set of continental individuals.

Mogollon mountain wolf

The Mogollon Mountains are located in Arizona and New Mexico. A wolf once lived there. He was dark gray with white markings. The length of the animal reached 1.5 meters, but more often it was 120-130 centimeters. The Mogollon predator weighed 27-36 kilograms.

The species was officially declared extinct in 1944. Compared to other wolves, the Mogollon was long-haired.

Rocky Mountain Wolf

Also an American, but he already lived in the mountains of Canada, in particular, the province of Alberta. Part of the population lived in the northern United States. The color of the animal was light, almost white. The predator was medium in size.

Montana has national park Glacier. The name translates as "Glacier". The area is cold. It was the first in the world to be recognized as an international park. This happened in 1932. Well, there are reports of several wolves living in Glacier that fit the parameters of a Rocky Mountain predator. There is no official confirmation of the information yet.

Manitoba wolf

Named after the Canadian province of Manitoba. Representatives of the extinct species had thick, light, long fur. Clothes were made from it. Also, the skins of Manitoba predators were used to decorate and insulate homes. This served as an additional incentive to shoot predators that were attacking livestock.

The Manitoba wolf was artificially recreated in Yellowstone National Park. However, experiments with the genetic material of an extinct predator made it possible to create a “double” rather than a “twin.” The genome of the modern Manitoba gray differs little from the real one.

Wolf of Hokkaido

Otherwise called edzo, lived on Japanese island Hokkaido. The predator was distinguished by a large skull with large and curved fangs. The size of the animal exceeded the parameters of the island Japanese gray, approaching those of an ordinary wolf.

The Hokkaido wolf's fur was slightly yellowish and short. The predator’s paws were no different in length. The last representative of the species became extinct in 1889. The cause of the death of the population was the same shooting, “fueled” by government rewards. They got rid of wolves by actively plowing the lands of Hokkaido for farmland.

Florida wolf

He was completely black, thin, with high legs. In general, the animal resembled a living red wolf, but of a different color.

From the name of the animal it is clear that it lived in Florida. The last individual was shot in 1908. In addition to hunting, the reason for the extinction of the species was its displacement from its habitat. The Florida wolf preferred the American prairies.

Current species of wolves

In fact, there are not 7, but 24 existing wolves, since the ordinary gray has 17 subtypes. We will separate them into a separate chapter. For now, 6 self-sufficient and “lonely” species of wolves:

Red Wolf

Red Wolf-view, absorbed external signs not only gray, but also with a fox. The latter is reminiscent of the red color of the fur and its length on the back and sides of the predator. In addition, the wolf has a narrow muzzle, like the red cheat. The long, fluffy tail of the red predator also resembles that of a fox. The body structure is closer to a jackal, just as lean.

Around the eyes, nose and at the end of the red tail the fur is almost black. Together with the tail, the length of the animal is 140 centimeters. A wolf weighs 14-21 kilograms.

Red Predator Presents types of wolves in Russia, but is listed as endangered on Federation lands. However, outside the country the predator is also protected. Hunting is allowed only in India and only with a license.

polar Wolf

He's white. According to the name and color, the predator lives in. In order not to succumb to the cold, the animal grew thick and long fur. The polar one also has short ears. This eliminates heat loss through large sinks.

Among the existing ones, the polar wolf is large. The height of the animal reaches 80 centimeters. Height is also 80, but kilograms.

In conditions of food shortage, the polar predator goes without food for several weeks. Then the animal will either die or still get the game. When hungry, an Arctic wolf can eat 10 kilograms of meat at a time.

Food supplies in the Arctic are declining due to melting glaciers, climate change, and poaching. The number of polar wolves has also decreased. It is listed in the International Red Book.

Maned wolf

The name is due to the presence of a “necklace” of long hair on the wolf’s neck and shoulders. It is tough, reminiscent of a horse's mane. Similarly, the animal lives in the pampas and prairies. The main wolf population settled in Yuzhnaya. There is no animal beyond the ocean.

Maned, lean, high-legged. The latter property allows the animal not to “drown” among the tall pampas grasses. You need to look out for prey, and to do this you need to be above the “situation.”

The predator's coloring is red. Unlike the Arctic wolf, the maned wolf has large ears. At the same time, an American is comparable in height to a resident of the Arctic Circle, but weighs less. On average, a maned wolf weighs 20 kilograms.

There is no threat of extinction of the species yet. However, the maned wolf is listed in the International Red Book as endangered. The status indicates a declining population of a still thriving species.

Ethiopian wolf

How many types of wolves don’t overdo it, but you won’t find anything more like a fox. The animal is red, with a long and fluffy tail, large and pointed ears, a thin muzzle, and high paws.

The predator is endemic to Ethiopia, that is, it is not found outside of Ethiopia. Before the DNA test, the animal was classified as a jackal. After research, it turned out that the predator’s genome is closer to wolves.

Compared to jackals, the Ethiopian wolf has a larger muzzle but small teeth. The height of the African predator at the withers is 60 centimeters. The length of the animal reaches a meter, and Weight Limit 19 kilograms.

The Ethiopian wolf is recognized as a rare species and is listed in the International Red Book. The species' extinction is partly due to interbreeding with domestic dogs. This is how the genetic uniqueness of wolves is lost. Among other reasons for extinction, the main one is human development of wild territories.

Tundra wolf

The least studied of the existing ones. Externally, the animal looks like a polar predator, but is not as big in size, weighing no more than 49 kilograms. The height of large males reaches 120 centimeters. Females are inferior to the stronger sex in height, weight, but not body length.

The thick fur of the tundra wolf consists of guard hairs approximately 17 centimeters long and downy undercoat. The layer of the latter is 7 cm.

Spanish wolf

The small red-gray wolf, as the name suggests, lives in Spain. The species was declared extinct, but scientists were able to find several surviving individuals.

Spanish wolves have white markings on the lips and dark ones on the tail and front legs. In other respects, the predator is similar to the common wolf. Many scientists consider the Spaniard to be its subspecies.

Gray wolf and its varieties

Seventeen subspecies of the gray wolf is a relative number. Scientists are arguing about the separation of this or that population from others. Let's get acquainted with the subspecies that have clearly “defended” their right to a separate place in the classification. Six of them are found in Russia:

Russian wolf

It lives in the north of the country, weighs from 30 to 80 kilograms. Females are approximately 20% smaller than males. One day, hunters shot an 85-kilogram predator.

Otherwise, a Russian is called ordinary; he does not need to introduce his appearance. As for the temperament, domestic grays are more aggressive than similar animals from America. Some individuals of the common wolf are black in color.

Siberian wolf

Typical not only for, but also Far East. There are not only gray, but also ocher individuals. Their fur is thick, but it cannot be called long.

The size of the Siberian is not inferior to the ordinary one. Only the sexual dimorphism between males and females of the subspecies is less pronounced.

Caucasian wolf

Among Russian wolves, its fur is the shortest, coarse and sparse. The animal itself is small, rarely weighing more than 45 kilograms.

The color of the Caucasian predator is gray-ochre. The tone is dark. Siberian and common wolves are light gray, and thujas are almost black.

Central Russian wolf

This gray wolf species has a formidable Representatives of the subspecies are larger tundra wolves. The body length of the Central Russian gray reaches 160 centimeters. The height of the animal is 100-120 centimeters. The Central Russian wolf gains weight of 45 kilograms.

The subspecies is typical for the central regions of Russia, occasionally entering Western Siberia. Preference is given to forests. Therefore, there is an alternative name for the subspecies - timber wolf.

Mongolian wolf

Among those found in Russia, it is the smallest. The predator lives in the forest-tundra of Kamchatka and Western Siberia. Externally, the Mongolian wolf differs not only in size, but also in the off-white tone of its coat. It is hard and rough to the touch.

The name of the species is associated with its homeland. This is Mongolia. It was from there that wolves of the subspecies moved to Russian territories.

Steppenwolf

It has a rusty-gray color, tending towards brown. It is darker on the back, and lighter on the sides and belly of the animal. The predator's fur is short, sparse and coarse.

The steppe subspecies of the gray wolf is typical of the south of Russia, lives in the Caspian lands, steppes in front of Caucasus mountains and the Lower Volga region.

It becomes clear why Russians call wolves gray. On the territory of the Federation gray tone present in the coloration of all predators living here. However, in principle, wolves are both red and black. However, no matter what the color of the animal, the main thing in the social hierarchy is size. The largest individuals become the leaders of wolf packs. Usually these are males.

Appearance: A well-built body with a broad chest rests on tall, muscular legs with tightly clenched toes. The forehead-shaped and at the same time graceful head of a wolf with medium-sized ears and a long pincer is decorated with dark stripes around almost pure white cheeks and light spots above the eyes. The short tail hangs almost straight.
The fur is thick and long (up to 8 cm); the undercoat is formed by hard, long black guard hairs at the ends, which repel water, which is why the wolf's undercoat does not get wet. The hair of animals from the middle and southern regions is coarse, while those from the northern regions are quite fluffy and soft.
Wolves moult twice a year. Spring molting in the north begins in the second half of April and lasts until June. Thinning of winter fur begins from the nape and sides, at the same time on the rump hairline falls down. Gradually, the hair change spreads to the ridge and back of the body. Autumn molt in the north it covers the period from late August to late October, sometimes until mid-November.

Lifespan: Wolves can live 12-16 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.

Eating behavior: On average, wolves eat 4.5 kg of meat per day, and in case of successful harvest they can eat up to 9 kg. A wolf requires at least 1.5 kg of food per day, and about 2.3 kg for successful reproduction. Ideas about the extreme gluttony of the wolf are exaggerated and are explained by the fact that predators, having caught one or another large animal and having had enough, take away the remaining meat and hide it, so that it seems that the prey was eaten at one time. Wolves are hardy animals and can go without food for two weeks or more.

Behavior

In most cases, the wolf confines itself to a den; much less often (mainly in open areas - steppe, tundra, etc.) it settles in burrows, adapting old burrows of marmots, foxes, badgers, and arctic foxes. For a den, he usually uses natural shelters - recesses under the roots of an inverted tree, among a windbreak, a rock crevice or the slope of a ravine, etc. The den is located in the most remote place, difficult for humans to reach - in an overgrown ravine, on a mane among a vast swamp or in a dense small forests on its outskirts, etc. If there is a lack of convenient places, especially in the steppe regions, but sometimes even in the forest zone, the den is made in the remains of hay or straw. The den is used with great consistency from year to year, and only the complete extermination of the brood leads to the disappearance of wolves from a given point for a number of years. A permanent den serves only for the time of raising young ones, and the rest of the year, wolves lead more or less wandering life. However, in the middle zone, migrations do not leave the boundaries of the hunting area and only in the tundra and steppes are more widespread.
The wolf has a well-developed sense of smell and hearing, which helps it easily find prey. In the wind, he picks up the scent of even the smallest animal located 1-2 kilometers away. Having heard a noise, the wolf moves its ears and determines where the sound comes from.
Wolves can be found at different times of the day, but they are most active at night and at dusk. Most often, wolves move at a walk or trot, less often at a gallop, and in some cases, at a short distance, they move to a quarry. The chain of traces is distinguished by its straightness, and each individual print has a clear outline.
A pack of wolves moves in single file, exactly like a trail, and only at turns and stopping places can you find out the number of animals. Thanks to its strong muscular paws, the wolf can trot for a long time at a speed of 9 km/h, and in pursuit of deer and elk it accelerates to 60 km/h.
Wolves have a well-developed sign language (facial expressions, position and movements of the tail, head, ears, body, etc.), which unites the pack and helps it act together. A welcoming ceremony is also obligatory in the pack, when the members of the pack express their respect to the leader - they approach him crawling with their ears flattened and their fur smoothed, licking and carefully biting his face.

Hunting behavior: Wolves are very highly developed predators. They have great physical strength, endurance and agility. When wolves hunt in packs, they distribute responsibilities among themselves: part of the pack drives the prey, while the other sits in ambush. The hunting methods of wolves are extremely varied and depend both on the conditions of the area, the type of prey, and on the experience of a particular individual or pack. Thus, in winter, wolves often drive ungulates onto crust or frozen ponds, where it is easier for them to catch up and overpower even strong prey. Some packs drive their prey into natural dead ends: tree debris, scattered stones, ravines, etc. Like foxes, wolves can “mouse” while hunting for small rodents and insectivores. A characteristic feature of the feeding behavior of wolves, like many other predators, is the hoarding of food. It has long been known that a wolf never hunts near its nest; this is precisely what can explain the observation of young roe deer and wolf cubs playing together in the same clearing.
Depending on the results of the hunt, the night journey is 25-40 km, but if necessary it can be much longer. As indicated, in the central zone of the country, even in the autumn-winter period, migrations go beyond the permanent hunting area of ​​​​a given couple or family. In the tundra and in the Asian steppes and deserts, wolf migrations cover much larger areas and often take on the character of long-distance migrations following herds of reindeer, roe deer, etc. In the mountains, regular seasonal movements of wolves are observed from one vegetation zone to another. For example, in the Caucasus, wolves in the summer and autumn stay mainly in the alpine and subalpine zones, and in the winter they migrate down to the fir and beech forests, where there is less snow and the main wintering grounds of ungulates are concentrated. In addition to regular seasonal movements, there are known cases of sudden appearance of large numbers of wolves in some areas.

Wolves are animals that are known to everyone predators. About wolves There are many fairy tales and sayings that describe him either as a ferocious beast or as a domesticated animal. In fact, the wolf cannot be classified as either one or the other.

Wolf is an animal, which is a mammal from the order Canidae. According to research, it is he who is the ancestor of the domestic one. They grow about 160 centimeters in length and weigh 60 kilograms.

Today this animal has more than 35 subspecies of its genus. “Relatives” live in different parts of the world. They are all different sizes and colors, but they have one thing in common - they are predators!

In my own way appearance The wolf resembles a large, pointy-eared dog. The paws are tall and thin, they can hardly be called massive. The withers are set high, the muzzle is large, which distinguishes this genus from dogs.

Wolves have a good ability to adapt. They can travel long distances and still feel at home. These predators have an excellent sense of smell and acute hearing. They can smell their prey 2-3 kilometers away.

Below in the photo there is a wolf, has thick and beautiful fur. It consists of two layers: the inner down and outer long hairs. They are tough and repel water well. This representative of the animal world has a large and thick tail, which is always lowered down.

A wolf's teeth are sharp as a blade; it is with them that he tears apart his prey. Plus, teeth are a wolf’s defense against other predators. Speaking about wolves, we need to mention their special voice. Unlike all animals, they can make different sounds:

• Grunt;
• Whistling;
• Squeal;
• Whining.

Listen to the wolf growl

Habitat and lifestyle of the wolf

Wild wolves are formidable predators whose habitat extends over almost the entire Northern Hemisphere. Representatives of this species could be found in Belarus, Alaska, and so on.

Wolves can live in completely different areas, but they prefer forest-steppes, tundra, steppes, and semi-deserts. They also love forest areas. High humidity The wolf won't like it. They can calmly settle close to people and approach them at close distances.

Wolves live in packs, which always have a leader. He chooses the best female for himself. In summer and spring, the flock breaks up, but all animals remain in their territory. The best place goes to the leader and his companion. The remaining members of the pack either pair up or begin to lead a wandering lifestyle. Wolves mark territory like dogs.

Typically, one flock occupies an average of 50 kilometers. At night, but not every day, wolves start singing in chorus. The leader begins to howl, then the others join him. Thus, wolves show cohesion and belonging to the pack.

The life of wolves, as animals, can be classified as nocturnal. Very often these predators make themselves known by starting to howl loudly. When hunting, a wolf can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h and run about 70 kilometers.

Before they start hunting, wolves often begin to howl. Sometimes they thus warn their fellows about the upcoming hunt. The leader of the pack gives a battle cry - this is the beginning of their action.

Wolf character

Wolves, as a rule, do not have a hot temper. Of course, it’s hard to call them friendly. A wolf pack always defends together, just as it hunts.

Males always protect females and young animals. If a female or a wolf cub is attacked by a predator many times larger, not a single wolf will stand aside. He will rush to protect them, no matter the cost. This is life of an animal - a wolf.

Wolves are indifferent towards other predators. Of course, they don't like animals that try to hunt in their territory. But they don’t just get into a fight.

There are legends about wolves as bloodthirsty animals, but in reality everything is completely different! Animal world wolves designed so that they are diligent family men who hunt to feed themselves.

Nutrition and reproduction

What kind of animal is a wolf?? The wolf is a clear representative of carnivores. TO plant foods he resorts in extreme cases when there is no food at all. An adult consumes from 2 to 6 kilograms of meat at a time. These predators have a habit of hoarding food for later.

Even though the wolf is very voracious, it is capable of starving for a long time. The main diet of wolves includes sheep, ,.

In fact, these predators eat all the animals they can get. The difference in feeding of wolves directly depends on their habitat. Wolves are monogamous creatures, so their marriages usually last for many years. From two to three years the animal is ready to reproduce.

The mating season occurs from January to April, depending on the habitat. At this time, the situation in the pack is heating up. The dominant male and female protect each other from other members.

The remaining males begin to actively court the she-wolves and fight for them. Typically, a female produces only one offspring per year. Pregnancy lasts about 65 days. There are from 3 to 13 puppies in a litter. During the feeding period, the female does not move far from her burrow and protects it in every possible way. The father wolf does not participate in the life of the cubs during this period.

After milk feeding, the whole pack makes sure that the wolf cubs are well-fed. Any wolf shares his piece with the kids. Depending on their habitat, puppies may remain in the pack or leave to look for new territory.

Species of wolves

There are more than 35 subspecies, but only a few of them are worth noting; they are interesting for their lifestyle and behavior. These include:

• White wolf - animal famous, which differs from its fellows in beauty. Usually hides from enemies. He has an easy-going and peaceful character. He does not like to meet people and often sits in his hole. Being a hermit, he prefers to live in the tundra and the Arctic.
• Black wolf - animal, which looks like a pointy-eared dog. Because of its appearance, people often confuse it with pets. This subspecies lives in Alaska and North America.
• Red wolf - animal, which may outwardly resemble a kutsuyu. Compared to its brothers, it is small in size. His weight is only about 21 kilograms. The peculiarity of these predators is their habitat – mountains.
• Steppenwolf - animal small in size, which, judging by the name of the species, lives in the steppes. Favorite places to live are cliff lines along river banks. They feed on hares and partridges. They most often live in fox holes.

In the photo there is a white wolf

Keeping a wolf at home

Making a wolf a pet is almost impossible. You need to realize that the wolf is a predator that can consider human flesh as food. Taming may take a long time, but if it succeeds, the wolf will become your best friend and protector. He will always be a danger to you, your family, and your guests.

If you decide to get a wolf, then the first thing you need to do is surround the wolf cub with love and care. You can’t shout at him and, of course, hit him. Wolf is an animal of the forest, so it is necessary to provide him with personal space. In general, of course, it’s difficult to imagine wolf as a pet.

It is recommended to feed the wolf with fresh meat and fish. Give the animal a lot of time and attention; the animal should feel your love. You need to play with a wolf like a dog and train it.

In the photo there is a red wolf

We must not forget that this is a predator and it is dangerous to humans. IN wildlife people often hunt these animals for their skins, although wolf hunt banned in many countries. Although most of these predators pose absolutely no danger to humans.

The wolf is an ordinary, gray wolf.

Common wolf, gray wolf– the animal is incredibly hardy. To survive in places with harsh climates, the gray wolf acquired some qualities that increase its level of resilience. For example, wolves inhabiting Arctic latitudes have adapted to endure long polar nights and harsh weather conditions.

Indeed, even in February, when the sun rises again over these harsh lands, temperatures of -40 and piercing icy winds are a frequent occurrence here. Other species of wolves have adapted well to life in the desert or on the wet, marshy shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

The domestic dog is considered a relative of the wild wolf; more precisely, wolves are the distant ancestors of dogs. Indeed, despite the fact that wolves are larger, these animals have a lot in common. However, it is difficult to imagine that a dog of any breed, be it a pug or a Doberman, is a descendant of this predatory animal.

Characteristics of the wolf.

Wolf ordinary has a well-developed intellect. This could not but affect the appearance of the animal: first of all, the wolf’s intelligence is reflected in its penetrating gaze.

The weight and size of the animal varies quite widely and depends on the species. The height of the animal at the withers ranges from 0.6 to 0.95 m, and weight – from 20 to 62 kg.

Gray wolf- the largest representative of the canine family. Male wolves weighing more than 77 kg have been recorded in Alaska and Canada. But wolves of such gigantic size are extremely rare.

The world's largest wolf was killed in Alaska; the animal weighed 80 kg. And the representatives of the Arabian wolf subspecies are considered the smallest; an adult female of this subspecies weighs no more than 10 kg.

The weight of females is always less than the weight of their male counterparts by approximately 22%. The wolf's body length, measured from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, ranges from 1.3 to 2 m, with the tail taking up about a quarter of this length.

As mentioned above, the ordinary wolf is incredibly resilient. Narrow rib cage, the powerful back and paws of this animal give it the ability to cover long distances. The wolf is able to cover many kilometers, moving at a speed of 10 km/h. It is also known that during a chase a wolf can reach speeds of up to 65 km/h. At this speed, he can run a distance of no more than 5 km.

Social structure of wolves.

Wolves usually live in a pack. The flock begins its formation when a male connects with a female. The couple is looking for a suitable place to settle down and raise their offspring. Puppies stay with their parents until they are old enough to leave the pack.

This usually happens at the age of 3 years, and an important role is played by the presence of favorable conditions that allow the young wolf to start a family. The structure of a pack can be represented as follows: the unchanging core is a pair of a wolf and a she-wolf, the remaining members of the pack are their offspring, and can often change, leaving the pack to begin an independent life.

There is a clear hierarchy in the pack, headed by an alpha male and an alpha female. Their influence, up to certain limits, extends to all processes occurring in the flock. In larger flocks, in addition to the main hierarchical branch, two more independent ones are added.

The first hierarchical branch exists among males and is headed by an alpha male, the second - among females and is headed, respectively, by an alpha female. In this case, the alpha male occupies a dominant position in the entire pack. However, there are situations when the female occupies the dominant position inseparably.

This usually happens during the breeding season. The female alone chooses a place for the den and also receives help from other members of the pack in feeding the offspring. This first of all means that the pack hunts to feed the she-wolf or her wolf cubs.

The female and male branches of the hierarchy exist independently of each other and require constant confirmation through aggression and demonstrations of dominance and submission. Control of reproduction is one of the main privileges of the alpha representatives of the pack.

The alpha pair usually has the exclusive right to reproduce, while they actively and quite aggressively prevent the reproduction of other adult members of the pack. To form their own family they need to leave the pack.

Another perk of an alpha pair is access to food. If the pack has caught a large prey, then the alpha pair and their offspring are the first to approach it. Therefore, during periods of hunger, it is more profitable for the remaining members of the flock to separate and try to feed themselves. However, when there is no shortage of food, the wolves eat quite amicably.

In a large wolf pack there is always a second place in the hierarchy. Wolves who occupy this stage are called beta males or beta females. They often take on the role of educators of their offspring during the absence of their parents.

As a rule, sooner or later the beta male or female will challenge the leader to take his place, although some of them are quite happy with second place. In this case, beta males or females will even allow lower-ranking wolves to take the place of leader in the pack under certain conditions, for example if the alpha male dies.

More ambitious betas, however, do not want to wait long and give up the challenge soon enough or break away from the pack to create their own. It happens that the alpha male, being in his old age, voluntarily gives up his place to the beta.

Stronger alpha males will fight to the last to maintain their dominant role, such fights often end with serious damage to both. The loser is usually expelled from the pack or killed if aggressive wolves join the opponent. Such battles for dominance are most common during the mating season.

Hierarchy within a wolf pack is established and maintained through a series of "ritual fights" and demonstrations. Wolves prefer a psychological duel to a physical skirmish, which means that personal qualities are more important than size or physical strength in the struggle for a high rank.

The order in which the hierarchy is established may differ from pack to pack, for example, if in a large pack there are many non-aggressive males, then the hierarchy in the pack will constantly change, the same situation will be observed in a pack of young wolves.

Feeding and hunting of wolves.

Wolves can hunt either in a pack or on their own. However, wolves that go hunting in a pack have a greater advantage, since acting together they are able to kill an animal that is superior to them in both strength and size.

The wolf is a strict predator, so not all food is suitable to support its body. He rarely does not finish his prey. For a wolf, hunting is not a sporting interest, but a necessary condition for survival.

Wolves can not only hunt, they can also feed on carrion. Their prey can be any animal from large mammal to a small rodent. Here are some of them: deer, moose, caribou, moose, bison, musk ox. Small animals include beaver, hare and other rodents.

The wolf has a large stomach volume, which allows it to eat up to 9-11 kg of food at a time. This same feature gives the wolf the ability to go without food for up to 2 weeks or even longer under unfavorable conditions.

Their digestive system is very thought out, because in addition to large pieces meat that the wolf’s stomach is capable of digesting, constituting 5% of the total food volume, large fragments of bones and wool enter the wolf’s stomach.

Due to the fact that the bones fell into digestive system The wolf somehow turns into clumps of undigested fur; the animal manages to avoid injury to the intestines.

Wolf cubs eat food regurgitated from the stomach of an adult wolf or pieces of meat that adult wolves bring to the den after a successful hunt.

Wolves play an important role in the ecosystem. During the hunt, they kill only weakened animals, thus improving the herd's gene pool and ridding it of burdensome animals.

For example, among a herd of deer there lives a sick animal that not only poses a threat of infection to other members of the herd, but also eats food that could be fed to the growing young animals. By destroying such an animal, the wolf performs its useful functions.

Wolves live and hunt mainly in their own territory. Members of the pack control and protect their domains from the invasion of strangers. The size of a flock's holdings depends on the availability of food.

During periods when conditions are not favorable, the area of ​​the territory may decrease to 65-78 sq km, with better conditions The territory occupied by the flock can cover up to 208 -234 sq. km.

Before the start of the hunt, wolves gather together to greet each other and howl to scare away strangers from their territory. Then the wolves comb all their possessions until they find a victim.

The wolf approaches the prey against the direction of the wind so that the animal does not run away when it smells the predator. The flock slowly approaches the prey, often lined up one behind the other. As soon as their prey realizes that it is being pursued by a predator and tries to escape, the wolves give chase.

Having overtaken prey, wolves try to bite it on the back or sides. Most often, large horned animals are attacked in this way in order to prevent it from defending itself with its horns and avoid possible damage. As soon as the victim falls, he is killed with a bite to the throat or face. Then the carcass is pulled aside and they begin to eat.

A wolf hunt can end in a few minutes, or it can drag on for hours. The more successfully the attack is structured, the greater the chances of successfully completing the hunt. If the attack fails, then the wolves continue to hunt until they catch their prey. After all, this is a matter of survival.

Reproduction.

The mating season for wolves occurs from January to March. According to pack laws, only the alpha male and alpha female mate, which helps control the population.

During the mating season, the alpha pair lives alone to avoid interference from the rest of the pack. Attempts at mating between other pack members are met with aggression from the alpha pair, with the alpha male usually expelling the offending male from the pack.

Two broods in a flock are rare. To prevent this, the alpha female shows aggression towards other females and tries to physically protect the alpha male from them during the mating season.

Unlike dogs, which go into heat twice during the year, a she-wolf comes into heat once. Wolves do not lose their reproductive abilities until they are 10 years old.

The female's gestation period lasts 60-63 days. Wolf cubs are born absolutely helpless: blind and deaf. In a female's litter, on average, 4 to 6 puppies are born, but it may happen that the female gives birth to 1 cub or 14. The puppies spend the first 8 weeks of their lives in the den.

The den is most often located on a hill near a pond. This is where the wolf cubs will take their first steps. First, they explore the area in the immediate vicinity of the den, and then gradually move away to a considerable distance, up to one and a half kilometers from their home.

At 4 weeks of age, wolf cubs develop baby teeth and begin to eat partially digested food that is regurgitated by the adults. During the first weeks of life, only their mother is present with the wolf cubs, but after 6 weeks from the moment of birth, the wolf cubs are partially separated from their mother and the entire pack is involved in the raising process. Being under the supervision of the entire pack, wolf cubs have a better chance of survival.

When the wolf cubs are 2 months old, they are transferred to another safe place, where they will remain when the pack goes hunting. Of course, they are not alone there: one or two adult wolves remain to look after them.

A few more weeks later, the wolf cubs may be allowed to join the hunt, but for now only as observers. The wolf cubs will act as active participants when they are strong enough, this will happen at the age of 8 months.

Despite their low rank in the pack, wolf cubs are the first to be allowed near the prey. Fights for the right to eat first between wolf cubs form a hierarchy among them. So already in this at a young age wolf cubs learn to perform dominant and subordinate roles, which are very important for their later life in the pack.

Having reached sexual maturity at the age of 2-3 years, the wolf can, at will, leave the pack, find a mate and organize its own pack on its territory.

Conservation status of the wolf.

Unfortunately, the wolf was mistakenly considered a pest for a long time, which led to the almost complete destruction of this predator. Today people have become more educated on this issue, but nevertheless, this opinion still exists among many farmers. Through the efforts of specialists and enthusiasts, many projects have been launched, the main task of which is to support the process of wolf reintroduction.

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 carnivorous 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 gray rat With the help of humans, it was 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 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 southern 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 features of their lifestyle. Zoologists identify several dozen subspecies of wolves. The largest wolves inhabit the tundra, the smallest - 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 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 the 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. Wolf droppings, when dry, acquire White color and in an open place it is visible at 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
Members of the pack 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. The frequency of aggressive contacts between wolves in natural and artificial conditions is likely to be very different. Limited space does not allow wolves to avoid mutual psychological pressure, maintaining a constantly high general level aggressiveness. For animals with a highly developed psyche, such as wolves, psychological relief has great importance. IN field conditions 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 the ungulate defends itself and then tries to escape, this is a clear sign 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 - man's best friend always 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, scattering stones or a dead end in the literal sense of the word - 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 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. IN 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, depending on general regime activity of animals, due to the specifics of the 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 most united and numerous groups, facilitating collective hunting of 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 in which 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 good review terrain 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 long time leave the lair.

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 eradication of wolves from 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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