Wolves are the biggest members of the Dog Family. Often looked at in the wild, they are mostly misjudged by the masses and are labeled as wild
beasts. But there is more to wolves than just being a beast. Wolves are
extremely intelligent and social animals that form a true relationship with their
fellow pack wolves. Here are 10 Unknown Facts About Wolves that prove that Wolves Are More Than Just Beasts.
1: Family Structure of Wolves
Wolves have usually a strong family structure. They live in a group, which is called a pack. Packs consist of male and female parent and
their pups which are born to them. The male parent is called Alpha Male and the
female parent is called Alpha Female. Wolves usually mate in the late winter. The female gestation period is 9 weeks and gives birth to a litter consisting of 4
to 11 pups. Pups live with the mother in the den as long as they are up to 3 weeks
of age. All the members of the pack help in raising and protecting the pups in the
wild.
Alpha male holds the strongest position in the family while
Alpha Female is the 2nd in command. All the pops follow Alpha
parents in their life and do as are instructed by the parents.
2: Size and Weight of Wolves
The size of wolves can vary depending on their age, type, and
environment. Adult Grey wolves are 4 to 6.56 feet long while red wolves are a bit
smaller with 4 to 5.5 feet in length. A normal grown-up wolf can weigh from 40
to 175 pounds. The average length of female wolves can be 4 to 6 feet long from
nose to tail, while a male can grow up to 6.5 feet long.
3: Strong Family Bond
Once wolves find their soul mate, they live together for
their entire life. They will stand by their family in all kinds of difficult
situations, sickness, hunger, fights, etc. Wolves are known to die for their
family and loved ones. They will protect their family by all means, even if
that costs their life.
4: Speedy Beings
Wolves are not known for their speed but their stamina,
intelligence, and resolve. They can sprint at speed of 36-38 miles per hour for
short distances but when they are in a chase or hunting, their speed can go up
to 50 miles per hour.
5: Marathon Travelers
Wolves need a lot of areas to supply them with enough prey
for food. That’s why wolves’ packs have huge territories and they fight for it
to protect it from other packs and other predators.
In Minnesota, their territory can be 25 to 150 square miles
while in Canada and Alaska it can vary from 300 to 1000 square miles. It all
depends on the climate, terrain, other predators, and availability of food. They
claim the area where they think is enough is to provide them enough prey for
food.
In order to prey for food and protect their territories, they
travel in a pack on all sides of their territory. While hunting or traveling
they cover large distances of up to 30 miles in a single day.
6: Good Communicators
Wolves are very good at communication. Wolf’s special howls
are the most famous among all. There are many stories attached to the wolves’
howls. Some people say that wolves howl at the moon, others say they howl when
they see supernatural things. Stories are stories but in reality, wolves howl to
communicate with other wolves who are far away. These howls can communicate
things to other wolves as far as 10 miles. They use this technique to gather
their scattered pack, find a missing wolf or defend their territory among
other purposes.
They use many other methods like gazing, growling, barking, whining, and whimpering also. During Hunt, they use body language like eye contact, facial
expressions, and body postures to tell their other partners when to attack and
how to do it. These soundless communications help wolves in their hunt without alerting
their prey.
7: Age and Teeth of Wolves
In the wild average age of wolves is about 13 years while in
captivity they may live up to 16 years of age.
Teeth are most important for adult wolves as they need them
to hunt for their food. Adult wolves have almost 42 teeth.
8: Wolfing it Down
As the saying suggests wolf eat a lot. They can up to 9 KG in
a single sitting. Although they carry a bad reputation for eating that’s a
survival tactic. Wolves’ life like many other hunting predators can be very unpredictable
as they never know when they will get their next prey to eat. It may take
several days for them to find themselves a good meal. That’s why they eat more
than their capacity so that they get enough energy till the next meal is
available, or it is pretty possible that they die out of hunger.
9: Kinds of Wolves
Scientists are divided in the matter of a variety of wolves.
The opinions vary from that of 8 to 38 subspecies. The most common
classification is grey wolves, red wolves, and eastern wolves. These three variants
are again subdivided into many subspecies and their names can vary depending
on their area of living and body structure.
10: Conservation of Wolves
Wolves once very common in the wild are not that common
anymore. Many species of wolves are labeled by different organizations as
endangered species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCN) has listed Red Wolves as critically endangered as according to
them, there are only 20 to 80 Red Wolves left in the wild.
The Ethiopian wolf is also listed as endangered by
the IUCN. The Eastern wolf is threatened and is protected in Canada.
Wolves are keystone species. They have a very important role
in the ecosystem. The ecosystem will not be the same as it is without them, or
it cease to exist as a whole. Yellowstone Park was a good example of wolves’
importance.
Wolves usually pick on weak, old, and sick prey for their
food and help other individuals to breed and continue their species. Many other
predators like eagles, bears, and crows eat the remains of wolves’ meals. These
remains of the kills left by wolves help many species to survive in extreme winters.
Therefore it is quite important to help wolves survive and
be a part of the ecosystem.
I hope you are amazed by these facts about Wolves. For more
interesting topics keep reading Facts Index or watch our YouTube channel.
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