Few European countries still have substantial numbers of wolves. Wild wolves are hard to count, so exact numbers are not known. Sometimes radio-tracking is used to determine their numbers. European wolves have managed to survive only in the most remote, mountainous, or densely forested regions. Areas in which these wolves can live without coming into conflict with humans are decreasing. There is little effective international agreement about the wolf’s conservation. All efforts to preserve the wolf are conducted locally.

Because of the increasing shortage of natural prey in Italy, wolves have been forced to give up their pack-hunting habits, and scavenge for food around villages and farmhouses. Roughly, about 250 wolves live in remote mountainous areas in Italy, and are officially protected. Projects which are financed by the World Wide Fund for Nature may enable small numbers of wolves to survive if farmers and herdsman can be persuaded to accept them. Many rural villages have open dumps where the local slaughterhouse disposes of its waste. Many wolves feed there alongside feral or stray dogs. These dogs and wolves will occasionally mate, and their offspring are often impossible to distinguish from ordinary dogs.

The wolf-dog’s (Right) deceptive appearance makes it all that more dangerous. Wolf-dogs may wander freely through populated areas, unrecognized as wolves. They are wilder than their feral parents. They can be extremely ferocious, and are often infected with rabies.

In Norway, Wolves are protected to the extent that they are illegal to kill by anyone other than farmers protecting their livestock. To prevent continuous slaughter, farmers are often compensated for livestock which is killed by the endangered wolves.

“Grupo Lobo” was founded in Spain and Portugal in 1985 in attempt to protect the wolves in the mountains on the Spain/Portugal border. There is an extremely small number of wolves in Sweden, regardless of protective legislation. These systems are often abused. Lapp herdsman in the North of Sweden have often blamed the deaths of their reindeer on wolves rather than on poor care.

The “wolf-plague” in Scotland resulted in the extermination of the animal there. The last British wolf died in 1743. Wolves survived in Ireland until about 1773. Similar waves of wolf persecution on the European continent has driven the few survivors into remote areas far away from human settlement.

Although the wolf is a protected species in most European countries, some hunters see no reason to stop killing wolves for sport, and will pay a great deal of money for the privilege. Wolf survival in Europe obviously requires more than simple legislations. These wolves are rather shy and intelligent, yet they are still viewed as a ruthless predator by the mainstream.

The Ethiopian wolf has long legs and a long muzzle, resembling the coyote in both shape and size. It has a distinctive reddish coat with a white throat, chest, and underparts, broad pointed ears, and a thick bushy black tail with a white base. It ranges in size from 43 to 55 inches (tip of nose to end of tail) and weighs from 24 to 42 pounds.

By nature, the Ethiopian wolf hunts by day, but it is found to sometimes be nocturnal in areas where it is persecuted. Though they live in packs which share and defend their territories, they almost always hunt alone. Rodents make up over 90% of their diet, but they occasionally feed on small antelopes, hares, and hyraxes.

Breeding season usually occurs between August and November. During breeding season and pregnancy, the female’s coat turns a pale yellowish color and her tail turns brownish and loses hair. The dominant female of the pack gives birth to a litter of 2 to 7 pups between October and January. Full maturity is reached at 2 years.

The only real predators other than humans are spotted hyaenas and tawny eagles that occasionally prey on unattended pups. Life span in the wild is about 8 to 10 years.

A fossilized bone was discovered near the Ohio River in Indiana in 1854. However, it wasn’t until years later it was determined that this fossil was of an unknown wolf species. It was named Canis Dirus, the Dire Wolf. Thousands of canis dirus fossils have been recovered from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles, California where water would be left floating on top of the tar after it rained. When attempting to drink from the pools of water, animals often became trapped in the tar below. The dire wolf and other predators, attempting to feed on the trapped animals, would often become trapped in the tar themselves. Dire Wolf fossils have been found in North, Central, and South America. Their exact range, however, is unknown.

Wolves usually live in small packs or family groups consisting of a breeding pair, their pups, and their unmated offspring from the prior several seasons. Female Feeding Her Young. The dominant, or breeding, pair are known as the alpha male and alpha female. They are respected by the rest of the pack. All adults in the pack cooperate in feeding and caring for the young.

Throughout the Fall and Winter, artic wolves remain on the move. After mating in March, the pregnant female leaves the pack to find a den to give birth to her pups. She may dig a new one. However, if the ground is frozen, she will be forced to return to an old den in a cave or rock cleft. The pups are born deaf, blind, and helpless. They are totally dependent on their mother, and she in turn relies on her mate to bring her the food she needs. After a month, the pups are able to eat meat. From then on, the whole pack shares the job of feeding them with regurgitatied meat from a kill. The pups may stike out on their own the following year.

The arctic wolf preys on lemmings and arctic hare, but its most substantial source of food is musk oxen and caribou. Because of the scarcity of grazing plants, animals must roam a large area in order to find enough food to survive.

They will kill virtually any animal they can catch, and eat every part of it, including skin, fur, and bones. The wolves have up to 800 square miles in which to search for their prey. When Winter temperatures plummet, the wolves may follow migrating caribou South.

The arctic wolves must hunt together in packs when seeking large prey. The caribou or musk oxen are too powerful for any one wolf to take on alone. By the time the pack approches a herd of oxen out in the open, the chance of a surprise attack is long gone; the herd has already formed a defensive circle with the calves in the center. The wolves must then prowl around the herd forcing the oxen to shift their ground to face them. If the wolves are successful, the oxen will scatter. The wolves will then give chase, trying to isolate the young or weak. A musk ox will provide enough food to last the wolves several days.

The shoulder height of the arctic wolf varies from 25 to 31 inches. On average, they are about 3 feet tall from head to toe. Their body length may vary from 3 to 5 feet (nose to tail). Their colors may range from red, gray, white and black. The approximate weight of a full grown male is 175 pounds. In captivity, an arctic wolf can live to be over 17 years. However, the average lifespan in the wild is but 7 years.

Wolves in general have been under threat throughout history. The arctic wolf is the only subspecies still found over the whole of its original range. This is largely because it rarely encounters humans.

Arab WolfIt is endangered in Arabia, and extinct in the United Arab Emerites. Because of a scarcity of food, they are found in packs only during mating season from October to December, or when food is plentiful. It will kill animals up to the size of a goat, but usually feeds on carrion, small birds, rodents, reptiles and insects. It also eats fruits and plants when meat is scarce. They dig burrows in the sand to protect themselves from the sun, and hunt mainly at night.

The only time that Arabian wolves are known to be territorial is when their pups are born. The litter size can be as large as 12, but is usually only 2 or 3. They are blind at birth and weaned at about eight weeks when the parents start regurgitating food for them.

aned Wolf in meadow Ancestors of the maned wolf are thought to have spread from North to South America about two million years ago. Broken away from other wolf species in North America, the maned wolf evolved into what it is today.

The maned wolf stands up to 3 feet in height, and 4 feet in length. It very seldom weighs over 50 pounds, though it’s long legs make it appear to be much heavier. By nature, it lives in dry, shrubby forests, and grasslands with swampy regions that grow high, lush vegitation. The wolf’s long legs enable it to see above tall grass, making it easy to spot prey as well as hide from it. The wolf’s toes can also be splayed apart, allowing it to walk on marshy grounds.

Maned Wolf on hillside The maned wolf is a flesh eater like all other dogs, although fruits make up about half of its diet. Its favorite food is the wild guinea pig found in its area. It will eat rabbits, rodents, lizards, frogs, birds, fish, and snails. It has sharp teeth for tearing meat, and broad flat molars for crushing fruit. It hunts mainly at dusk and at night. It catches its prey with a swift, high pounce. Occasionally, it digs creatures out of their burrows.

Breeding Season falls between late Spring and early Summer. Its mating habits have been observed only in captivity. The female takes the lead in mating by bowing in front of the male and rubbing against him while pounding her forepaws on the ground. The female gives birth to four to five cubs in her den. The cubs are fully grown in about a year, and usually mate after they are two years old. Captive maned wolves live between 12-15 years. Their lifespan is unknown in the wild.

By the 1950s, the Mexican wolf was virtually wiped out in the United States by private trappers and government agencies. The last wild Mexican wolf known of in the United States was shot in 1970. In 1976, they were listed as endangered. Their number has since been increased through captive breeding, and they have been re-released into the wild, though they are still a very rare mammal in the wild.

When in the wild, the wolf feeds primarily on deer, antelope, rabbits and other small rodents. As the smallest subspecies of gray wolf, the Mexican gray wolf varies in size from 50 to 64 inches long (nose to tail), 24 to 32 inches shoulder height, and weighs from 50 to 90 pounds. It’s coat is usually a blend of black, Mexican Gray Wolf white, and grey. They form in packs which usually consist of a breeding pair and their offspring. Just like the Canis Lupus, all members of the pack help in raising the young.

The red wolf is similar to but smaller than the gray wolf and is intermediate in many characteristics between gray wolves and coyotes. It often interbreeds with the coyote, and because of this, it is believed that the red wolf may eventually become extinct by hybridization, rather than by man. It ranges in size from 15″ to 16″ shoulder height, 55-65″ in length, and can weigh anywhere from 40 to 90 pounds. Its colors range from cinnamon red to almost black, with tan markings above the eyes. It feeds mainly on birds, rabbits, and other small rodents, but will also hunt deer and other large prey if available.

The red wolf’s historic range covered the southeastern portion of the United States, reaching as far west as Texas and north to Illinois. Their preferred habitat was warm, moist, and densely vegetated, although they were also present in pine forests, bottom land hardwood forests, coastal prairies, and marshes.Red Wolf in Brush

Destruction of forests and coastal marsh habitat, as well as widespread persecution and predator control activities, brought them close to extinction. All of this in addition to hybridization. In 1980, they were declared biologically extinct in the wild. In the wild, red wolves normally establish life-long mates, and their packs usually consist of an adult pair and the young. They reach breeding maturity in their second or third year. Breeding seasons can vary from March to May. Den sites include stream banks, enlarged burrows of other animals, hollow trees, and sandy knolls in coastal areas.

They usually hunt at night and feed primarily on large hoofed mammals such as deer, caribou, elk, and moose, but sometimes eat berries, birds, beaver, fish, and insects. Animals that they kill are usually young, old, or otherwise weaker members of their populations because they are easiest to capture. Most pursuits of prey range in length from 110 yds. to 3.1 miles. Healthy wolves rarely, if ever, attack humans. Their range once covered most of North America. However, today only a few upper states and Canada have a wolf population large enough to maintain itself.

Pack of WolvesThe gray wolf mates for life and lives in packs which can vary in size from 2 to over 15, but are usually from 4 to 7 wolves. The leader of the pack is normally the strongest male, who often determines when and where the pack will hunt, as well as other activities of the pack. Wolfpacks are formed primarily of family members and relatives. They may travel more often, and greater distances than any other terrestrial animal. Their territories may cover from 100 to 260 sq. mi, depending on the abundance of food and water. Territories may also overlap, although wolfpacks very seldom confront one another. Some wolves leave their packs to become lone wolves. Loners may start their own packs if a mate and a vacant area can be found.

Breeding season can vary from January in low latitudes to April in high latitudes. A wolfpack will alternate between a stationary phase from spring through summer and a nomadic phase in autumn and winter. The stationary phase involves caring for pups at a den or homesite. Mother Wolf w/PupDuring summer, most movements are toward or away from the pups, and adults often travel and hunt alone. By autumn, pups are capable of traveling extensively with the adults, so until the next whelping season the pack usually roams as a unit throughout its territory in search of prey. Though often only the highest ranking male and female in a pack will breed, all members of the pack are involved in raising the young. Mortality factors affecting wolves include persecution by humans, killing by other wolves, diseases, parasites, starvation, and injuries by prey. Most wolves probably live less than 10 years in the wild.