Mammals · Canids

Gray Wolf

Canis lupus

Endangered

Wolves are large wild canids — slender, powerfully built animals with a sloping back, heavy muscle, and a thick double coat. Once the most widely distributed land mammal on Earth, wolves now live and hunt in tight-knit packs led by a breeding pair, mostly across Canada and portions of the United States.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Canidae

Subfamily: Caninae

Tribe: Canini

Genus: Canis

Species: lupus

Size

36–63 in. long, tails 13–20 in.; 40–175 lbs; 26–32 in. at the shoulder. Males are typically larger than females.

Habitat

Forests, tundra and portions of Canada & the U.S.

Description

Slender, powerfully built animals with a sloping back, heavy muscle, and a thick coat.

Diet

Deer, moose, caribou, elk, bison, musk-oxen and beaver — voles and mice when food is scarce.

Senses

Excellent vision and exceptional hearing.

Communication

Scent marking, vocalizations, visual displays and body postures — including whines, growls and howls.

Gestation

About 63 days.

Birth & Litter Size

4–7 pups per litter, each about 1 lb at birth.

Sexually Mature

Between 1 and 2 years of age; males and females typically mate for life.

Life Span

6–8 years in the wild, up to 13 in captivity. Pup mortality can be as high as 50%.

Social Structure

Wolves travel, hunt and live in packs led by an alpha breeding pair, with strong social bonds and a clear hierarchy.

Did You Know?

Wolves are the largest members of the Canidae family, which includes domestic dogs, coyotes, dingoes, African hunting dogs, many types of foxes, and several kinds of jackals.

Did You Know?

Gray wolves can be white, black, tan, brown, or a combination of tans, browns, and black.

Did You Know?

Wolves have a bulky double coat: tough, water- and dirt-repelling guard hairs over a dense, water-resistant undercoat. The undercoat sheds in large tufts each spring, and wolves rub against rocks and branches to help it come loose.