Characteristics Of The Gray Wolves

For the first time in 70 years, the howl of the Grey Wolf is being heard throughout Yellowstone Park (Sanders, 2000). In January of 1995, 14 wolves from separate packs in Canada were trapped and transported to Yellowstone. Once in the park the wolves were placed in one acre acclimation pens. In total there were three pens scattered across the northern portion of Yellowstone: one a Crystal Creek, another at Rose Creek, and the last at Soda Butte. During the wolves time spent in these pens they were fed winter kill, or road kill. The packs that were formed in these pens were released in the winters of 1995-1996 and also again in 1996-1997 for a second release period (Sanders, 2000). In 1995 fourteen wolves were released and in 1996 seventeen were released. In 1997 there were 64 pups born and since 1995, 33 wolves have died in the Yellowstone area.

The gray wolf is one of the world’s most well known and well researched animals with more documentation on them than any other wildlife species. It is a canid whose main habitats are in the wilderness of remote areas in North America, Eurasia and North Africa. It is the largest member of the wolf family, usually weighing between 70 and 120 lbs, and closely resembles in general appearance and proportions to a modern day breed of dog known as the German Sheppard, although they typically have a larger head, narrower chest, longer legs, straighter tails and bigger paws. The narrow chest of the gray wolf allows for swift and efficient movement through the common elements of their environment such as snow, brush and other conditions. Their larger heads indicate their higher level of intelligence and their large paws, webbed with fur aid in movement across mud and snow. The colour of a gray wolf’s fur lives up to its name and is predominantly a mottled gray although the gray wolf can also have fur that is nearly pure white, mixes of red, brown, or black. Being very social animals, gray wolves do mostly everything in packs of 2 – 15 animals; living, traveling and hunting. They can hunt and feed off smaller game, yet with their large pack size, they can work collectively to bring down large game such as deer, moose or bison. There are 37 recognized subspecies of the gray wolf in total ranging across six continents with familiar names that one

A Gray wolf has a long bushy tail often blacked-tipped. A Red wolf also has blacked-tipped bushy tail. Red wolves often live about 5-6 years in wild and 14 years in captivity. Gray wolves live about 8-13 years in the wild and 15 years in captivity. The Gray wolf weighs about 110 lbs and 2.6-2.8 ft long. The Red wolf weighs between 45-80 lbs and about 4 ft long. These two wolves develop strong social bonds with their packs.

Long before the settlers started to make the United States their home, “American Indians lived long beside the Gray Wolf before settlers started to come here.” (Rowe, Mark) The wolf is native to the North American continent and has been inhabiting its land for centuries. It is a canid species, or member of the canine family and is a cunning, smart, fast, and sly animal. Gray wolves range in color from black, brown, gray, and white and also look like a grown German Shepherd. They are well known for traveling in family sizes from 7-9 wolves, led by the alpha male and have a mate. They are a fierce animal that has been researched extensively because of their unique qualities and that they are near extinction.

The gray wolf packs continue to be rarely seen in North Dakota. We can’t count how many packs there is today because there is only an exiguous amount left. Gray wolves remain threatened in North Dakota in addition to some of endangered in other areas of the United States of America. Clearly, ranchers are one of the primary reasons that gray wolves stay threatened. They are killing gray wolves for the reason that the wolves are killing off their livestock. Another reason why the gray wolves remain vulnerable is because the poachers set traps to kill the gray wolves. Gray wolves keep the ecosystem healthy by keeping the elk and deer population intact. However, some hunters could see this as not helping them so they would want to kill wolves.

Diet: Gray wolves will eat large prey such as moose, goats, sheep and deer. Normally, the pack of wolves will find the weakest or sickest animal in a herd, circle it, and kill it together. Wolves are known to attack and slay domestic animals as well as animals they find in the wild.Wolves are ferocious eaters. They can eat up to 20 pounds or 9 kg of food during one meal.

In this essay I will be informing readers about the history of the wolf in the western part of the United States, the wolf’s status as an endangered species, and its effect on the ecosystem and what we as humans can do to manage it.

The Canadian wolf can look many different ways.They can grow anywhere from 2-3 feet tall. The Wolf has fur and claws. When you think of a wolf, you can compare it to a dog. The teeth are just like a dog’s teeth. The Wolf’s tail is just like the rest of it’s body, fluffy and soft. A wolf is most likely to have blue or brown eyes. A wolf has four short legs, but they can run fast. The male can weigh anywhere from 70 lbs- 200 lbs. The female weighs about 50 lbs- 100 lbs.

How can a wolf do harm and at the same time do so much good to the ecosystem? The Gray wolf is the largest canids in the wild, usually weighing between 70 and 120 lbs. They vary in color greatly from black

There are few types of wolves that live in canada. The wolves that are left in Canada we should cherish, because soon they will become so rare, that there population could be whipped out. Firstly there is the Arctic wolf, which is usually found up North where it is cold in Canada, the Arctic wolves have beautiful thick white fur. The second wolf that i will tell you about is the grey wolf, the grey wolf is a more common wolf but none the less gorgeous with its gray and black fur. The grey wolfs used to roam the united states, but almost all of them were exterminated. Now the grey wolves habitat is excluded to Canada, Alaska, the Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest. The next wolf i

The adaptations of a Arctic Wolf are small ears to reduce their surface area to volume ratio and compared to other the grey wolf and other subspecies arctic wolves have proportionally smaller ears. This means that there is less surface area to lose heat from compared to the larger ears of their more southern wolves. They also have thick camouflaged seasonal fur and because the coat of the arctic wolf is always thick and highly insulating they can stay warm during the coldest times of the year and there are inner and outer layers to the fur

A gray wolf’s natural habitat is expansive. As long as there are plentiful food supplies of large herbivores like elk and deer, almost all regions can support this majestic and highly intelligent predator.

Gray wolves. To some, these creatures are monsters, harbingers of death and destruction. To others, they are simply misunderstood creatures, protective of their family and their pack. However, what either side does not know is that these creatures play a greater role in their ecosystem than one human alone could understand. Grey wolves are one of thousands of different keystone species- species of organisms that have a large effect on the health and stability of a particular ecosystem. But they are also on the brink of extinction. The over hunting of these creatures in the 1900’s has lead to a severe decline in their population throughout the U.S., creating a ripple effect in the ecosystems in which they reside in. Luckily, reintroduction

A single pack may contain animals that are black, shades of gray-brown, and white. Wolves in the heavily forested areas of eastern North America are more uniform in color. They are often a grizzled gray-brown like some German shepherd dogs. This color variation is a good example of natural selection, which enables those animals best suited to a particular environment to survive. On the arctic islands, where much of the ground is snow-covered for at least nine months of the year, being white is a distinct advantage, so wolves in the Arctic may be nearly white. In the mottled grey, green, and brown world of the eastern forests the normal coat of the wolf is an effective camouflage. As a wolf moves stealthily, or rests, it blends into the background and is hardly seen. Wolves in the Arctic have extremely dense under-fur, which insulates them against rigorous winters. Another adaptation to environment is their habit of hunting in packs, or groups, which enables them to kill large animals.

Wolfs interact with other organisms in amazing ways. Between 1883 and 1918, more than 80,00 wolves were killed in Montana for bounty.The gray wolf, also known as the timber wolf or western wolf, is a canid native to the wilderness and remote areas of Eurasia and North America. Some wolfs are only about 55 pounds full grown while others can be up to 200 pounds. They can range in size from 40 to 65 inches in length. Their home range can be from 33 to 6,200 km2, It will depend on the type of wolf and where they happen to reside.Wolves live around people. Wolves live and hunt in packs of around six to ten animals.Wolves can thrive in a diversity of habitats from the tundra to woodlands, forests, grasslands and deserts. Wolves are very diverse animals,