Where does the wolf live in which country? Gray wolf photo, description, habitat, reproduction
The common gray wolf (Canis lupus) is highly developed nervous system and especially acute hearing and smell. The high mental development of the wolf, combined with great strength, exceptional endurance and the ability to adapt to various conditions of existence, is the reason that, so persistently persecuted by man from the beginning to the present day, it has not yet been exterminated.
Brief description of the wolf
The gray wolf is one of the most dangerous animals in Ukraine. Belongs to the canine family. The body length of a common wolf is over 120 cm. Males are always larger than females. Outwardly, gray wolves resemble shepherds, but are characterized by characteristics that are characteristic only of wolves. The head is large, broad-browed, the neck is short and inactive, the muzzle is massive and elongated. The eyes are light brown, placed obliquely. The brow ridges are convex, making the eyes appear sunken and larger than those of dogs.
The strong, high scruff of the neck and the gray wolf’s habit of bending its hind legs create the impression as if the dorsal part of its strong body is inclined towards the tail, and its powerful wide rib cage separated from the collected belly. The forelimbs of ordinary wolves, although slender, are muscular and strong. The gray wolf never throws his evenly fluffy tail over his back; it always hangs like a log.
The fur color of a wolf in summer is reddish, much darker along the back and almost halfway up the tail. In winter in hairline In the case of an ordinary wolf, the rusty-reddish shades disappear, and the color acquires a brownish-gray color, lighter on the abdominal part.
Wolf habitat
The distribution of common wolves on the territory of Ukraine is uneven: more of them are in the forest areas of northern Polesie and the Carpathian mountain ranges, less common in forest-steppe zone and steppe regions, are absent in Crimea. Typical forest dwellers, gray wolves have long adapted to life in cultivated landscapes. Particularly favorite habitats are thickets of bushes in semi-dry swamps, among forests.
Common wolves are active mainly at dusk and at night and can only occasionally be seen during the day. However, where they are not pursued, they hunt during the day. In the dark, wolves see much better than other canines.
Diet of common wolves
The gray wolf is a typical predator that obtains its own food, actively searching for and tirelessly pursuing its prey. The basis of nutrition for common wolves is wild boars, deer, roe deer, domestic ungulates, etc. In pursuit of them, wolves can reach running speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. Gray wolves also hunt small animals, especially hares, ground squirrels, mouse-shaped rodents, waterfowl and other birds nesting on the ground. As an exception, the gray wolf's diet includes berries, wild and garden fruits.
Wolves breeding
Gray wolves make their dens for raising babies in secluded places provided with food resources. They are building 
it is found in a shallow hole, a depression under the root of an inverted tree among a windfall, in a wide bush of thorny bushes, or in a depression on the ground among dense reed thickets, always near a reservoir. In mountainous regions, common wolves make their dens in rocky cliffs, rock crevices, caves or rubble.
Once a year, in mid-March or early April, after a 62-64-day pregnancy, the she-wolf often gives birth to five or six blind, deaf, toothless wolf cubs, which develop rapidly and are even able to crawl out of the den at three weeks of age. At the age of one month they are fed by burping, that is small pieces half-digested meat swallowed by parents. In June-July, old wolves already teach wolf cubs to get food on their own. In the fall (late September - October), young gray wolves replace their baby teeth with permanent ones. From this time on, the wolf cubs actively help the old wolves hunt.
Why is the gray wolf dangerous?
Common wolves - dangerous predators. Until recently, they caused great losses to our economy. Having settled near populated areas, gray wolves attack domestic animals and dogs. They are especially dangerous in hunting areas. The gray wolf, covering long distances every night, regardless of whether he is hungry or not, 
destroys all the game he encounters on his way, and much more than he can eat. In addition, gray wolves are the main distributors incurable disease– rabies.
Despite the fact that the gray wolf is a game animal, the cost of its skin is low compared to the harm it causes. This is the most harmful predator of the fauna of Ukraine. The persistent fight against this predator, which is carried out in Ukraine during all seasons of the year, has greatly reduced its number and, compared with the last century, the harm from wolves is not of a threatening nature. However, in Lately In connection with the establishment of the sanitary significance of the common wolf in nature, the fight against this predator was significantly weakened, and, naturally, the number of wolves increased again. Now there is a need to strengthen control over the number of gray wolves, both in Ukraine and throughout the CIS.
A short video about gray wolves shows how smart and resilient these animals are, and how they communicate in a pack. Also see how wolves in a pack hunt ungulates, helping each other.
Wolf, or gray wolf, or common wolf - carnivorous mammal the canine family. Together with the coyote and the jackal, it forms a small genus of wolves. In addition, as shown by the results of DNA sequence studies and genetic drift, it is the direct ancestor of the domestic dog, which is usually considered a subspecies of the wolf. The wolf is the largest animal in its family: its body length (without tail) can reach 160 cm, tail up to 52 cm, height at the withers up to 90 cm; body weight up to 86 kg. The wolf was once much more widespread in Eurasia and North America. In our time, its range and the total number of animals have noticeably decreased, mainly as a result of human activity: changes in natural landscapes, urbanization and mass extermination. In many regions of the world the wolf is on the brink complete disappearance, although in the north of the continents its population still remains stable. Despite the fact that the wolf population continues to decline, it is still hunted in many places as a potential danger to humans and livestock, or for entertainment. As one of the key predators, wolves play very important role in the balance of ecosystems in biomes such as forests temperate latitudes, taiga, tundra, mountain systems and steppes. In total, there are approximately 32 subspecies of wolves, differing in size and shades of fur. In the territory Russian Federation the most common are ordinary and tundra wolves. The Slavic word wolf goes back to Proto-Indo-European vocabulary.
The structure of a wolf's teeth is an important characteristic that determines the lifestyle of this predator. The upper jaw has 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 premolars and 4 molars. The lower jaw contains 2 more molars. The fourth upper premolars and the first lower molars constitute carnivorous teeth, which play a major role in cutting up game. The fangs with which the predator holds and drags the prey also play an important role. A wolf's teeth can withstand a load of more than 10 megapascals and are both its main weapon and means of defense. Their loss is disastrous for the wolf and leads to hunger and loss of capacity. The tail is quite long, thick and, unlike a dog's, is always lowered; hunters call it “log”. The tail is the expressive “language” of the wolf. By its position and movement one can judge the mood of the wolf, if he is calm or afraid, his position in the pack. Wolves' fur is thick, quite long and consists of two layers, which is why sometimes the animal looks larger than it actually is. The first layer of wool consists of hard guard hairs that repel water and dirt. The second layer, called the undercoat, contains waterproof down that keeps the animal warm. In late spring or early summer, fluff peels off from the body in clumps (molting), while animals rub against stones or tree branches to facilitate this process. There are significant differences in coloration between wolf subspecies, often in accordance with their environment. Timber wolves- gray-brown. Tundra - light, almost white. Desert ones are grayish-reddish. In the highlands of Central Asia, wolves are bright ocher in color. In addition, there are pure white, red or almost black individuals. In wolf cubs, the color is uniform, dark and lightens with age, and the blue iris of the eyes usually becomes golden yellow or orange after 8-16 weeks of life. In rare cases, wolves have blue eyes for their entire lives. Within the same population, coat color can also vary among individuals or have mixed shades. The differences relate only to the outer layer of the coat - the undercoat is always gray. It is often believed that the color of the coat is intended to blend the animal with its environment, that is, it acts as camouflage; however, this is not entirely true: some scientists point out that mixed colors enhance the individuality of a particular individual. Wolf tracks are distinguishable from dog tracks in several ways: the side fingers (index and little fingers) are more set back relative to the middle fingers (middle and ring fingers), if you draw a straight line from the tip of the little finger to the tip index finger then the back ends of the middle fingers will only slightly extend beyond this line, while the dog will have about a third of the length of the pads of the middle fingers behind the line. Also, the wolf keeps its paw “in a ball,” so the print is more prominent, and therefore the wolf’s footprint is somewhat less footprint dogs of the same size. In addition, the track of a wolf’s tracks is much straighter than the track of a dog’s tracks, which serves as a reliable “identification mark.” The track of a seasoned wolf has a length of 9.5 - 10.5 cm, a width of 6-7 cm, a she-wolf - 8.5-9.5 cm and 5-6 cm.
They are active mainly at night. Wolves often make their presence known with a loud howl, which differs greatly among mature males, female wolves and young animals. Of the external senses, the wolf has the best developed hearing, a little worse - the sense of smell; vision is much weaker. Well-developed higher nervous activity in wolves is combined with strength, agility, speed and other physical characteristics that increase the chances of this predator in the struggle for existence. If necessary, the wolf reaches speeds of up to 55-60 km/h and is capable of traveling up to 60-80 km per night. And it accelerates to a gallop in a few seconds, covering 4 meters, after which it rushes at full speed. When attacking a herd, wolves often kill several animals, tearing out their throats or ripping open their bellies. Wolves keep uneaten meat in reserve. There have been cases of wolf attacks on humans. Mentally, the wolf is highly developed. This is expressed in the ability to navigate the environment and avoid danger, as well as in hunting methods. There are known cases when a pack of wolves was divided, and one part remained in ambush, while the other caught prey. In a pack chasing an elk or deer, often some wolves run on the heels of the victim, while others run across them or cowardly slowly and, having rested, replace the leading ones until they starve the victim out. Cases of almost human intelligence in wolves have also been observed. For example, there was a case when hunters in a helicopter drove wolves into a grove. At first they could not be found, but then, when the hunters got off the helicopter and entered the grove on foot, it turned out that the wolves had stood on hind legs, and pressed themselves against the tree trunks, grasping them with their front paws, so that it was extremely difficult to notice them from a helicopter.
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. The narrow chest, 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 occurs at the age of 3 years, and the presence of favorable conditions, allowing 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 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 fight 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 a 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 that enter the wolf’s digestive system somehow turn 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 can decrease to 65-78 sq. km; under 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 leave the pack at will, find a mate and organize its own pack on its territory.
Conservation status of the wolf.
Unfortunately the wolf for a long time They were mistakenly considered a pest, 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.
A wolf is a predatory animal belonging to the canine (canine) family. In science, names such as common wolf and gray wolf are also often found.
The wolf is considered the largest representative of the canine family. Its length reaches 1.5 meters without a tail, and up to 2 meters with a tail.
The height of a wolf from the ground to the seventh vertebra can be 0.9 meters, and its weight can reach 90 kilograms.
General characteristics of the species
According to some studies, the possibility of the origin of a dog from a wolf has been established. In ancient times, wolves were often tamed by people, as a result of which the the new kind, which is now a pet for many people.
Not so long ago, the places where wolves live were vast (Asia, Europe, America, etc.), the total number of individuals of this species was at the proper level. Currently, the spread of the wolf has slowed down, and, one might say, has gone in the opposite direction.
This is primarily due to the decrease in forest areas where the wolf directly lives. In addition, the wolf is a tasty prey for poachers, which also affected their numbers.
In the main habitats of the wolf, hunting for wolves is prohibited, but currently there are still areas where hunting for wolves continues legally.
The wolf is, in a sense, the orderly of the forest. He delivers forest areas from sick and weak animals, which has a great effect on general state gene pool.
There are two types of wolves in Russia: tundra and common. Their total number is 32 subspecies.
Origin of the word "Wolf"
This word comes from the verb “to drag.” After a wolf kills its prey, it may grab it with its teeth and drag (drag) it to the location of its offspring. Hence the name.
Evolution of the species
The wolf began its evolution in ancient times in North America. There lived animals that were similar in appearance to the coyote and were called Canis Lepophagus. This animal lived together with another species of the canine family – borophages. They inhabited the same territory as Canis Lepophagus, and their rivalry interfered with the normal existence of both species.
Over time, the borophages became extinct, which gave the ancestor of the wolf the opportunity to develop intensively and enter a new stage of evolution. Thus, the brain and body of Canis Lepophagus subsequently increased in size, and its development began at a rapid pace.
About 1.8 million years ago, the ancestor of the wolf became minimally similar to the current wolf. Paleontologists discovered its remains in Eurasia and gave it the name Canis Priscolatrans.
The latter received maximum similarity to the modern wolf a little later, having gone through another stage of evolution. This new subspecies was named Canis Mosbachensis. Its existence continued for a long time.
About 500 thousand years ago, the modern wolf appeared, the evolution of which continues to this day.
Description of the modern wolf
Dimensions of the wolf and its appearance depend on the climate in which he lives. The diversity of the animal world that surrounds it is also important.
If there are very few potential victims of a wolf where he lives, then this will affect his health, and accordingly his appearance and size.
The average height of an ordinary wolf at the withers is in the range of 65-90 cm. The average weight of a wolf has a large spread and can range from 30 to 90 kg. According to some reports, there are individuals weighing more than 90 kg.
One of the wolf subspecies is the Arabian wolf, weighing no more than 10-15 kg. This is the smallest wolf in the world.
Typically, female wolves are about 20% smaller than males.
A wolf travels from birth to maturity in an average of 3 years.
The difference between a wolf and a dog
The wolf differs from the dog in having stronger and higher legs. Moreover, the wolf’s paw itself is also much larger than that of a dog. The wolf's skull is wider, the muzzle is also wider, and more extended forward. The wolf has a lot of hair on the sides of its head, and its eyes are narrow.
The wolf's nose is extended forward, and its lower part is slightly expanded.
The wolf has approximately 42 teeth: 20 teeth on the upper jaw and 22 teeth on the lower jaw. There are two fangs on both jaws.
The wolf's fur is very thick and has a certain rigidity, which allows it to protect itself from inclement weather, dampness and humidity. In addition, the abundance of wool helps to cope with winter cold.
Closer to summer, the wolf sheds excess fur, so it becomes too hot for the animal in summer.
Wolf subspecies have different colors, which depend on the habitat of the predator. For example, a wolf that lives in the forest is gray-brown in color, in the tundra it is white, and in the desert it is gray-red.
All these differences between a wolf and a dog are clearly visible in the photo below.
Wolf eyes
Mostly wolves have yellow eyes. In very rare cases, a wolf's eye color can be green, blue-green or brown.
Although small wolf cubs have blue eyes for 2-3 months after birth, which then gradually changes to yellow.
Wolf sense of smell
The wolf's sense of smell has incredible power. A wolf can smell the scent of its prey while being at a distance of 3 km from it.
At the same time, a wolf's nose is capable of distinguishing millions of different smells. Therefore, a wolf’s sense of smell is its main reference point.
What do wolves eat?
The diet of the modern wolf includes large mammalian species (elk, deer, bison, etc.). However, the wolf is not lazy in chasing smaller species, such as hare, roe deer, and various kinds of rodents.
Still, most of the wolf's diet comes from dying and sick animals, as well as carrion.
These are ready sources of food that do not require special labor to obtain them, so wolves use this very willingly.
Useful information about the wolf
On average, a wolf lives about 10 years;
Wolves do not live alone, they are always with their pack. At the same time, in a flock there is a male and a female, who are the parents of the entire flock;
The wolf is a predatory animal, and their main prey is large mammals, which they hunt in an organized manner as a whole pack;
These predators are on this moment in danger. Their total number has decreased greatly in recent years, due to illegal hunting by poachers and a decrease in forest areas;
The average wolf while running can reach a speed of 45 km/h;
The wolf's endurance is very high. He can chase his prey long time(from 12 hours or more);
There are situations (very rarely) when a wolf leaves the pack, or is expelled from there by other members of the pack due to illness;
The wolf is the largest representative of its family.
Photo of a wolf
Wolf (lat. Canis lupus) is a predatory mammal from the Canidae family. Along with coyotes (Canis latrans) and common jackals (Canis aureus), as well as some other species and subspecies, gray or common wolves included in the genus Wolves (Canis).
Description of the gray wolf
According to genetic and genetic drift studies, wolves are the direct ancestors of domestic dogs, which are generally considered a subspecies of the wolf. Currently, Canis lupus is the largest modern representatives of his family.
Appearance
The size and body weight of a wolf are characterized by pronounced geographical variability and directly depend on climatic conditions, some external factors. The average height of the animal at the withers varies from 66 to 86 cm, with a body length ranging from 105-160 cm and a weight of 32-62 kg. A profit or one-year-old wolf weighs no more than 20-30 kg, and the weight of two- and three-year-old wolves is no more than 35-45 kg. The wolf becomes seasoned at age three years when the minimum body weight reaches 50-55 kg.
In appearance, wolves are similar to large, pointed-eared dogs with high and strong limbs, large and more elongated paws. The two middle fingers of such a predator are characterized by a noticeable projection forward, due to which the footprint acquires a very peculiar relief. Wolves have a broad-browed head with a relatively wide and fairly elongated, massive muzzle, which is characterized by increased expressiveness, which allows one to distinguish more than a dozen facial expressions of a predator. The skull is high, massive and large, with a wide nasal opening, widening at the bottom.
This is interesting! Significant differences wolf trail from the dog are represented by a large backwardness of the lateral toes, as well as keeping the paw “in a lump” and a more straight “path” left by the animal.
The tail part is “log-shaped”, thick, always lowered down. TO important characteristics wild predator refers to the structure of the teeth. The upper jaw of a wolf is equipped with six incisors, a pair of canines, eight premolars and four molars, and the lower jaw has a couple more molars. With the help of fangs, the predator not only holds well, but also drags prey, so the loss of teeth causes hunger and a rather painful death for the wolf.
Double-layer wolf fur is sufficiently long and thick.. Coarse guard hairs have water- and dirt-repellent properties, and the undercoat is necessary to retain heat. Different subspecies differ in color, corresponding to environment. Forest predators have a grayish-brown color, while tundra predators have a light, almost white, and desert individuals are gray-reddish. Wolf cubs have a uniform dark color, which becomes lighter as the animal grows older. Within the same population, the coat color of different individuals can also have noticeable differences.
Character and lifestyle
Wolves are primarily active at night, accompanying their presence with a loud and prolonged howl, which serves as a means of communication even over very long distances. In the process of hunting prey, a wolf, as a rule, does not make unnecessary sounds and tries to move as silently as possible.
This is interesting! The habitats of the gray wolf are very diverse, which is due to the affinity of such a predatory mammal to almost any landscape .
The predatory mammal has very well-developed hearing.. Such an animal's vision and sense of smell are somewhat less developed. Thanks to a well-developed higher nervous activity, strength, speed and agility, the wolf's chances of survival are very high. The predator is capable of running at speeds of up to 60 km/h and covering a distance of 75-80 km in one night.
How long do wolves live?
General life expectancy indicators for the gray wolf in natural conditions in most cases depend on human activities. Average duration The life of such a predator in nature is fifteen years or a little more.
Range, habitats
Wolves are found in most areas of Europe and Asia, as well as in North America, where they have chosen the taiga, conifers forest areas, icy tundra and even deserts. Currently, the northern border of habitat is represented by the coast of the Northern Arctic Ocean, and the southern one – Asia.
As a result of active human activity, the number of places where the predator is distributed has significantly decreased over the past few centuries. People often exterminate wolf packs and force them out of their inhabited places, so this predatory mammal no longer inhabits Japan, the British Isles, France and Holland, Belgium and Denmark, as well as Switzerland.
This is interesting! The gray wolf is a territorial animal, occupying from 50 km 2 to 1.5 thousand km 2, and the area of the family territory directly depends on the landscape features in the predator’s habitat.
The distribution zone of wolves is determined by a sufficient amount of prey, regardless of the time of year. With the onset of winter, the predator tries to avoid places with a lot of snow and continuous forest. The largest number of individuals is observed in the tundra and forest-tundra, forest-steppe and alpine zones, as well as steppes. In some cases, wild predators settle in close proximity to human habitation, and taiga zones are currently characterized by the spread of wolves following the deforestation of the taiga, which is quite actively carried out by people.
Gray wolf diet
Wolves feed almost exclusively on food of animal origin, but in the southern regions predators often eat wild fruits and berries. The main diet consists of domestic and wild ungulates, hares and small rodents, as well as birds and carrion. Tundra wolves prefer calves and females, geese, lemmings, etc. The prey of predators inhabiting mountainous areas is often rams and tarbagans, as well as hares. They can also become food for the wolf.
