Today the gray wolf is found across most of Canada from the US border to the Arctic Circle and throughout Alaska. Small pockets of wolves still exist in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Montana and possibly Idaho. Wolves were restored to Yellowstone National Park in 1995.

A wolf's coat is very thick and designed to keep the animal warm in frigid conditions. An extremely dense undercoat covered by long guard hairs allows wolves to sleep comfortably on snow pack in temperatures reaching near -40 F.

Blue - Current Range

Green - Original Range

Wolves have 42 teeth all designed for tearing meat. Jaw strength is tremendous. Since wolves are almost totally meat eaters, they have a large liver and pancreas to aid in the digestion of complex proteins.

Habits and Behavior: Wolves are very highly social animals. They live in units called a pack consisting of a single breeding pair, the alpha male and the alpha female, their offspring and other pack members that most often are related. pack size varies greatly and is a function of the overall population size. Reliable records exist of packs in Alaska being composed of up to 36 animals. Packs are generally much smaller consisting usually of only 8 or fewer members.

There is a very strict social heirachy within the pack which controls all aspects of pack activity. It determines who eats first and who dominates whom. The alpha male is the undisputed leader over the entire pack. He leads the hunts, is the first line of attack against threats and he eats first at kills. Every wolf knows its place in the rank.

Packs hold defined territories that are defended against other wolves. Lone wolves caught by the pack within their territory are often killed. Territories can range from 50 to thousands of square miles and is dependent on the quality of the habitat and the abundance of prey. Sometimes during severe weather, packs will join forces and hunt as an extended pack of up to 25 animals. These super packs generally are together very briefly and sometimes dissolve right after a kill.

Every spring a single litter of pups is born to the alpha female in a den of her choosing. Most dens are in sandy soil on the sides of hills and frequently are close to water. A den could be an enlarged den of another animal like a fox or badger. Dens are mostly dug by the female weeks before giving birth and extend up to 14 feet into the ground. Normally six to seven pups are born in early spring but as many 14 may be born. The pups are blind and deaf at birth weighing about a pound and are covered with dark fur. They are the responsibility of the entire pack and other members are often left to guard the young when the pack goes out to hunt.

The howl of the wolf is likely the most recognizable sound in the animal kingdom. It is a continuous sound lasting from 1 to 11 seconds with a relatively constant or smoothly changing pitch. A howling session by a single animal lasts about 35 seconds with several howls emitted. A pack howl starts with a single animal and progress through the pack with each member being involved. Howling starts with a long low sound and progresses into shorter higher sounds. A pack howling session last about a minute and a half. The pack may howl any time of day and all year long, but howling is most frequent at dawn and dusk and in the months of July and August.

Howling is an exciting event for the pack. Members move close together and the excitement is apparent in the wagging tails. Not all functions of howling are understood or known, but assembling the pack is a main function. Determining the locations of other wolves and packs may also help to advertise territories.

Diet: Wolves are meat eaters. They prey mostly on large animals primarily of the deer family like moose, deer and caribou. In the Great Lakes area of the US and Canada, white-tailed deer are the main component of the wolf's diet. In the arctic tundra it is the caribou and in western Canada it is the elk. Smaller mammals such as ground squirrels, rabbits and mice, as well as carrion and even insects are consumed. These other sources compose between 20 and 40% of the wolfs food. Wolves will eat 5- 10 pounds of meat a day, but rarely obtain that amount regularly. As a result of irregular eating, wolves often gorge themselves at kills and can engulf up to 20 pounds of meat at a sitting. Wolves do not chew their meat. Instead they swallow large pieces torn off with their meat shearing teeth. Hence the term "wolfing down your food" .

Procuring such quantities of meat is difficult and necessitates the hunting in packs. It would be difficult for a single wolf to bring down a large ungulate. By acting as a unit, wolves can encircle a victim and attack from several sides. Mostly the young, old or injured members of a herd fall prey to wolves. Healthy strong hoofed animals are not often taken unless conditions like deep snow provide wolves with the advantage. Moose and elk that stand their ground usually ward off the wolves. Hunting is a tiresome activity and only about one in ten pursuits results in a kill. All wolf pack members, except the pups, participate in the hunt.

Longevity: In the wild, a wolf may survive eight or nine years. Wolves have no natural predators as adults aside from other wolves. As pups they may be killed by bears or eagles. Hunting large game is dangerous business and wolves die from injuries sustained during hunting. Man is the greatest threat to the wolf. In addition to actual killing of the animals, the loss of habitat is also detrimental to wolf survival.

Status: Until April 1, 2003, the gray wolf was listed as Endangered by the federal government in the lower 48 states. The Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton signed legislation that reduced the status of wolves to Threatened, a move that without doubt will seriously jeopardize the survival of wolves in the continental United States.

The northern third of North America supports roughly 95% of the continent's wolf population with Canada estimating between 17,000 and 28,000 animals and Alaska claiming 25,000. Yellowstone National Park contains 14 distinct packs with a total count of 162-163 animals. It is difficult for wild populations in the western states to grow or even exist with constant pressures from ranchers to remove wolves. The policy of "shoot, shovel and shut-up" will always thwort restoration efforts. Minnesota's population has grown from 1235 wolves in 1977 to an estimated 2000 in 1996.