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Scientific Name: Canis Lupus
Length:   4.5 to 6 feet, including tail
Weight: 70-110 pounds. Females are usually 5-10 pounds lighter than males.
Color: Ranges from white to black with combinations between with gold,tan, brown and rust.
Present Range: Stable in Canada and Alaska. Smaller populations exist in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, and Yellowstone National Park.
Diet: Wolves in the wild prefer to hunt members of the deer family: moose, deer, elk, and caribou. The also may eat beaver, rabbits, mice and birds.
Reproduction: Wolves only breed once a year. Breeding season is usually January/February. In most instances only the Alpha male and Alpha female breed.
Life Span: Wolves live from 6-10 years in the wild, and up to 18 years in captivity.
Senses: Wolves sense of smell is up to 100,000 times greater than humans. A wolf may smell something up to 300 yards away to 1 mile away. Their hearing is excellent, and they can hear a howl as far away as six miles in the woods or ten miles on open tundra.
Wolf Pack Structure
Wolves live in packs because cooperation allows wolves to bring down larger prey than they could individually. The male and female leaders of the pack are called Alphas. They lead the pack during a hunt, and eat first when the kill is made. They are usually the only wolves to reproduce in the pack. Next in the social hierarchy of a wolf pack are the Beta wolves. If something happens to one of the Alpha wolves, the Beta usually moves up the rank. The lowest ranking wolf in a pack is called the Omega. The Omega wolf, usually lives on the outskirts of the pack, and usually eats last. These behaviors show up during the time that a pup is still very young, and still in the den. The assertive pups will grow up to be Alphas, while the weaker more submissive become the subordinate wolves.
Wolf Myths
Myth 1. Wolves howl only at the moon. Fact 1: They howl to communicate with other wolves of their pack, and to communicate with other wolf packs.
Myth 2. Werewolves are real. Fact 2: There is no such thing as a werewolf. It is part of European legend.
Myth 3. People have been attacked by wolves. Fact 3: No incident has ever been reported of a wild wolf attacking a human. Several captive wolves have attacked and killed people. Wolves are wild predatory animals!