Wolf
Basic Information
Anatomy
The wolf is a slender and powerfully built canine predator with moderately longer legs than that of other similar dog-like beasts that allow them to move swiftly and overcome deep snow that covers most of their geographical range in winter. They also have heavy and large teeth, allowing them to crush bone.
Ecology and Habitats
Wolves live in forests, inland wetlands, shrublands, grasslands (including Arctic tundra), pastures, deserts, and rocky peaks on mountains.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Wolves are pack hunters, primarily preferring to feed on wild herbivorous hoofed mammals of medium and large sizes that have a body mass similar to that of the combined mass of the pack members. But they are not picky eaters, smaller-sized animals that may supplement their diet include the likes of rodents, hares, insectivores, waterfowl and their eggs, fish, lizards, snakes, frogs, large insects and even smaller carnivores.
In times of particularly scarcity, wolves will even eat carrion, even going so far as to attack weak or injured members of the pack and eat their corpses in the harshest of winters.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Wolves are social creatures who gather into packs ranging from 5-24 on average, though some scholars have recorded the existence of exceptionally large packs that can be as large as 42 in a single pack.
Outside the pack, however, wolves are territorial and generally establish territories far larger than they require to survive to assure a steady supply of prey. Territory sizes depend largely on the amount of prey available and the age of the pack’s pups. Their ranges tend to increase in areas with low prey populations or when pups reach the age of six months when they have the same nutritional needs as adults. They advertise their territories to other packs through howling and scent markings.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Wolves have keen senses of smell and hearing.
Lifespan
14 Years
Average Height
2'8" at the shoulder
Average Weight
120 lbs
Average Length
4'3"
Geographic Distribution
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