The Grey Wolf

The Grey Wolf (Canis Lupus) is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It shares common ancestry with the domestic dog (Canis Lupus familiaris)

Wolves live in highly social groups with a dominance hierarchy. Although once widely abundant in North America and Eurasia the population is now restricted to smaller fringes, often in forests and tundra. This is attributed to widespread destruction of territory, human encroachment and local extinction due to human-wolf conflicts. Wolves can be found in forests, deserts, plains, mountains, and on tundra. Today the range of the grey wolf has been reduced to portions of the United States (Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, Wyoming), Canada, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Russia.

Click on map to see larger (from Wikipedia)

Although this species is thought not to be at high risk for extinction it is thought to be at risk and in some areas is protected while in others it is still hunted, for sport or where there is percieved to be a threat to livestock. In the US it is classified as endangered

See this link: Parks Figures

Threats: Because wolves need wildland habitat and an abundant supply of prey, human encroachment into wolf territory has become a leading threat to their survival. The illegal killing of wolves is also a serious problem



The wolf features heavily in literature as a mystical creature.
It is an intelligent, beautiful animal that is too often misunderstood.

Biological facts and figures tomorrow...