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. The main cause of population declines has been habitat destruction and persecution by humans. But the reintroduction of gray wolves into protected lands has greatly increased the likelihood of their survival in North America. Populations in Alaska and Canada have remained steady and are fairly numerous. Currently the State of Alaska manages 6, to 8, gray wolves and Canada's populations are estimated at about 50, The wolves in Canada are managed by provincial governments and are not currently threatened.
In western Eurasia gray wolf populations have been reduced to isolated remnants in Poland, Scandinavia, Russia, Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Wolves were exterminated from the British Isles in the 's and nearly disappeared from Japan and Greenland in the 20th century. Greenland's wolf populations seem to have made a full recovery. The status of wolf populations throughout much of eastern Eurasia is poorly known, but in many areas populations are probably stable. Gray wolves are listed were until recently listed as endangered by the U.
Most U. Except for red wolves, all living North American wolves are considered to be gray wolves. 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.
At birth, they cannot see or hear and weigh about one pound. The pups are weaned at about six weeks. Adult pack members swallow meat and bring it back to the den for their pups. After the adults regurgitate the food, the pups have a hearty meal. The mother wolf moves her pups to new den sites every couple of months until the fall, when the pack stops living at den sites. In the wild, wolves live 8 to 13 years, sometimes more.
In captivity, they live upward of 15 years. The gray wolf's story is one of the most compelling tales of American wildlife.
Once, the wolf was widespread across most of North America, but it was hunted ruthlessly and extirpated over most of its range. Today the wolf is making a successful comeback in some of its former habitat due to strong conservation efforts.
The gray wolf plays a vital role in the health and proper functioning of ecosystems. Gray wolves are the largest living wild canine species. Wolves are the wild ancestor of all our domesticated dogs, from poodles to bulldogs to greyhounds. Greenland's wolf populations seem to have made a full recovery.
The status of wolf populations throughout much of eastern Eurasia is poorly known, but in many areas populations are probably stable. Gray wolves are listed were until recently listed as endangered by the U. Most U. Except for red wolves Canis rufus , all living North American wolves are considered to be Canis lupus -- a total as of of 32 recognized subspecies. Gray wolves are widely recognized to be the ancestor of all domestic dog breeds Canis lupus familiaris , including feral forms such as dingos Canis lupus dingo and New Guinea singing dogs Canis lupus halstromi.
Genetic evidence suggests that gray wolves were domesticated at least twice, and perhaps as many as 5 times, by humans. Artificial selection by humans for particular traits, including size, appearance, aggressiveness, loyalty, and many desirable, specialized skills, has resulted in an astonishing array of domestic dog morphologies. Domestic dogs vary in size from diminutive, 1. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria. Found in coastal areas between 30 and 40 degrees latitude, in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough hard or waxy evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire.
In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo. Ecotourism implies that there are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a now extinct synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities.
Convergent in birds. Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons or periodic condition changes. This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation. Coniferous or boreal forest, located in a band across northern North America, Europe, and Asia. This terrestrial biome also occurs at high elevations.
Long, cold winters and short, wet summers. Few species of trees are present; these are primarily conifers that grow in dense stands with little undergrowth. Some deciduous trees also may be present. A terrestrial biome with low, shrubby or mat-like vegetation found at extremely high latitudes or elevations, near the limit of plant growth.
Soils usually subject to permafrost. Plant diversity is typically low and the growing season is short. July January 16, Dog Breed Info Center, Kinder, A. McIntyre, R. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press.
Mech, L. Gray Wolf. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. Shetal, B. Strauber, J. June 12, Young, S. The Wolves of North America. Washington D. Zgurski, J. The Iberian wolf Canis lupus signatus is a top predator that inhabits the Iberian Peninsula. In Portugal, its numbers and distribution declined throughout the 20th century, due to human persecution, habitat degradation and prey decline, which have led to higher predation rates of livestock in the remaining packs.
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