Gray wolves are very social, pack-living animals. Each pack is made up of two to thirty-six individuals, depending upon their habitat and the abundance of their prey. Most packs are made up of 5 to 9 individuals. Packs are typically made up of an alpha pair and their offspring, including their young from previous years. There is a strong structure of dominance relationships within each pack. Each pack member has a position in those dominance relationships, called their 'rank'. The pack leader, usually the alpha male, is dominant over all other individuals.
The next dominant individual is the alpha female. If the alpha male becomes injured, the next highest ranking male will take his place as alpha male. Rank within the pack determines which animals mate and which eat first. Each year, gray wolf packs have stationary and nomadic phases. In the spring and summer, while pups are being reared, wolf packs remain in the same area. During the fall and winter wolf packs move around in search of food.
Wolf movements are usually at night and may cover long distances. The territory of a pack ranges from to 13, square kilometers, and is defended against intruders. Rank is communicated among wolves by body language and facial expressions, such as crouching, chin touching, and rolling over to show their stomach.
Vocalizations, such as howling allows pack members to communicate with each other about where they are, when they should assemble for group hunts, and to communicate with other packs about where the boundaries of their territories are.
Scent marking is ordinarily only done by the alpha male, and is used for communication with other packs. Gray wolves are carnivores. They hunt prey on their own, in packs, steal the prey of other predators, or scavenge carrion. Prey is located by chance or by scent. What wolves eat depends on where they live and what kinds of prey are available.
Wolves hunt in packs for large prey such as moose , elk , bison , musk oxen, and reindeer. Wolves help to keep prey populations healthy by hunting the weak, old, and sick animals. A wolf can consume up to 9 kg of meat at one meal. Wolves usually eat almost the entire carcass, including some hair and bones. Smaller animals, such as beavers , rabbits , and other small mammals are usually hunted by lone wolves.
Wolves may also eat livestock and garbage when it is available. Few animals prey on gray wolves. Wolves and coyotes are highly territorial animals so wolves from other packs and coyotes will attack wolves that are alone or young. They will kill pups if they find them. As top predators, gray wolves are important in regulating populations of their prey animals.
Gray wolves may sometimes kill livestock. The extent of livestock loss to wolves is often overstated, wolves typically prefer their wild prey.
Historically, the fur of grey wolves was used for warmth. As top predators in many ecosystems, wolves are important in controlling populations of their prey. Wolves are important in our culture, many people believe they symbolize the spirit of wilderness. Wolf products, including posters, books, and t-shirts are very popular. Wolf ecotourism is a major source of revenue for parks and reserves.
Unfortunately, by the early part of this century, man had almost exterminated the wolf from the lower 48 states. The recovery of the wolf is becoming an impressive conservation success story and a gift to future generations" Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior. Wolves play an important role in the ecosystem by controlling natural prey populations and removing weak individuals. Unfortunately, people who keep livestock believed that gray wolves posed a terrible threat to their herds and wolf extermination programs became widespread.
Populations of gray wolves were nearly eradicated. Currently in the lower 48 United States, about 2, gray wolves exist, with nearly 2, in Minnesota compared to the few hundred living there in the midth century. Successful recovery plans have been developed throughout the country These plans evaluate populations to determine distribution, abundance, and status.
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Wolves can thrive in a diversity of habitats from the tundra to woodlands, forests, grasslands and deserts. Wolves are carnivores—they prefer to eat large hoofed mammals such as deer, elk, bison, and moose.
They also hunt smaller mammals such as beavers , rodents, and hares. Adults can eat 20 pounds of meat in a single meal.
Wolves communicate through body language, scent marking, barking, growling, and howling. Much of their communication is about reinforcing the social hierarchy of the pack. When a wolf wants to show that it is submissive to another wolf, it will crouch, whimper, tuck in its tail, lick the other wolf's mouth, or roll over on its back. When a wolf wants to challenge another wolf, it will growl or lay its ears back on its head.
A playful wolf dances and bows. Barking is used as a warning, and howling is for long-distance communication to pull a pack back together and to keep strangers away. Wolves live in packs.
Most packs have four to nine members, but the size can range from as few as two wolves to as many as Occasionally a pack can increase to 30 members, until some individuals break off to find new territory and form their own pack. Within the pack hierarchy, there are male and female hierarchies.
The alpha male is dominant over the entire pack, both males and females. The alpha female and male are the only ones that breed. When the young adults reach the age of three, they can either join the pack or leave to find their own territory.
The new territory can be close by if there is a lot of prey. In some areas, young adults travel hundreds of miles to find a new territory. Wolves typically mate for life. In the northern United States, they breed from late January through March. The breeding season is earlier for wolves living farther south.
Wolves are pregnant for about 63 days and usually birth four to six pups. The wolf pups are usually born in a den.
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