text x_quick_Title2=Class: Mammalia~Order: Carnivora~Family: Canidae
text x_quick=Where In the World~` Wildlife experts believe there are about 75,000 gray wolves found all across the world. ~` Gray wolves are found in North America, northern Europe, and Asia. ~` In the U.S., gray wolves are found in Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. ~` Gray wolves are also found in Canada. A few gray wolves are still left in Mexico. ~` In Europe and Asia, they are found in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Scandinavia, Poland, and what used to be called Czechoslovakia. There are some in India, and some in what used to be the Soviet Union.~\
~Take a Look!~` A large adult male could be seven feet from nose to tip of tail. (The tail itself can be two feet long.) ~` Adults are over 2 feet tall at the shoulder (about 26 to 28 inches), and they weigh over 80 pounds.~` Just because they're called gray wolves doesn't mean they're always gray. In some places, all-white or all-black wolves are common. But generally, gray wolves have light brown or grey fur sprinkled with black on their upper parts, and have yellowish-white bellies and legs.~ ~All in the Family~` The gray wolf is related to the jackals (simien, side-striped, black-backed, and golden jackals), the coyote, the red wolf, and the domesticated dog. ~ ~Just the Facts~` Gray wolves live in family packs.~` The leader is called the alpha, and is usually a male. He's generally assisted by his chosen mate, who is called the alpha female.~` The alpha pair are the only members of the pack to mate and have a litter of pups. ~` The alphas mate between January and April (depending on how far north they live and when spring arrives), and their litter averages 8 puppies.~` Wolves hunt grazing animals, and because they hunt in teams, they can attack animals that are much larger than they are.~` The wolf diet varies depending on what other animals live in the area, but can include deer, wapiti (also called elk), moose, caribou, bison, musk ox, and mountain sheep. They also eat smaller animals (beavers, etc.) if larger ones aren't available.~` The average life span of a gray wolf is about 16 years.
;Habitat
text x_hab= Gray wolves can live in almost any kind of habitat, as long as it's isolated from humans. They are - or have been - found in all the land habitats in the northern half of the planet except for true deserts and tropical rainforests. Gray wolves can make good homes in mountain forests and forests on the plains, on the frozen fields of the Arctic, in wet bogs and marshes, and in woodlands of almost any kind. ~\
In the past, wolves ranged through northern Europe, Asia, and North America. Small numbers can still be found in isolated parts of the northern hemisphere. In Europe and Asia, wolves are still living in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, the country that used to be called Czechoslovakia, India, and parts of the country that was once called the Soviet Union. There are enough wolves in northern North America (in Alaska and Canada) to be considered safe, although in the lower 48 states, wolves are either threatened - in Minnesota - or endangered in the only other states where they're found, which are Montana, Idaho, Washington, Michigan, and Wisconsin. There are a few left in Mexico, too. ~\
The wolves need several things in their habitat - just like you do. They need a supply of food. Instead of a nearby grocery store, they choose a habitat that has plenty of animals for them to hunt. They need shelter, but they don't live in a house or apartment. Instead, they make a den in a rocky crevice, hollow log, or overturned stump. There are no faucets in the den, so they chose a den site that's near water. ~\
Wolves need a lot of land, and they don't like humans very much. (They'd rather run away than meet one.) Many humans don't like wolves, either, so when humans and wolves have to share a habitat, it usually ends unhappily for the wolf.
;Food
text x_eat= Gray wolves hunt and eat the animals that share their home territories. Depending on where the wolves live, they may hunt deer, wapiti (also called elk), moose, caribou, bison, musk ox, mountain sheep, and beaver. Wolves can attack animals that are much bigger than they are (such as a moose) because they hunt in a large group. Still, even with team-mates to help, it's hard to run down and kill a healthy moose. So wolves look at a herd very carefully. They try to only attack animals that appear to be old, very young, weak, or sick, animals that they stand a chance of catching. Not all wolf hunts are successful - often the pack goes hungry. ~\
When they are successful, the pack can eat quite a lot - up to 19 pounds of meat in one feeding! (5 1\2 pounds is a more usual amount.) They need the energy in that food. Wolves can jog along at 4 or 5 miles an hour almost all day, and can sprint faster than 40 miles an hour for over 20 minutes when hunting. ~\
The wolves on a hunting party eat for themselves, but they also remember any wolves who couldn't come - like a mother who's watching the pups back at the den. How can they bring food back to her? Their solution seems a bit gross to us, but the mother wolf and her babies love it - the hunters carry extra food in their bellies - when they get back to the den, they regurgitate it for the stay-at-homes.
;Habits and Characteristics
text x_life= Gray wolves live together in a family group called a pack. The pack is made up of an adult pair and their offspring (like a human family), and can be small or large. Generally, a pack has 5 to 8 members. If the pack is too large, young males (over two years old) leave the pack to go off on their own. They try to establish their own family packs.~\
Each pack has a leader, called the alpha. It's usually a male (although not always). He is assisted by his mate, the alpha female. As long as he is the quickest, smartest, and strongest, the alpha stays in charge. If he dies or weakens with age, a younger wolf will take over the pack. ~\
The alpha pair are usually the only ones to mate and breed. They pass on their strength, speed, and intelligence to their pups. To be ready for the pup's arrival, the pair digs a new den or cleans up an old one to be a "nursery" for the litter. Mating occurs as early as January in warmer places and as late as April in the Arctic. The pups are born about 9 weeks later, much to the excitement of every pack member. The litter may be as small as one, or as large as eleven - the average size is six pups. They're blind and helpless at birth, and weigh less than a pound. After 11-15 days, they open their eyes, but they're still too small to leave the den. The alpha male and other pack members bring food to the mother. (Sadly, if food supplies are low, the young may become malnourished and die.) The pups are weaned at about 5 weeks. They begin to travel with the pack in the autumn, and become sexually mature at 22 months. ~\
Each wolf pack maintains a territory, also called a home range. If the pack is small and there is lots to eat, the range is as small as 4 square miles. If the pack is large or food is scarce, the pack may range over 3,000 square miles. All hunting, raising of young, and other activities occur within this range. Wolves don't usually migrate - instead, they travel through their range and visit most parts about every three weeks. ~\
Gray wolves communicate with each other easily. They use ways that are familiar to us ("talking" with growls, howls, and barks) and ways that amaze us - like scent marking. Wolves define their territory by smell. Every three weeks or so, they travel along their borders to mark special points - a tree stump, a rock, or a fallen log. After the wolf is gone, the smell remains, alerting any other scent-oriented animal that they're crossing into a wolf pack's territory. ~\
Howling is used to communicate for two reasons. When the pack is together, howling is like a group sing - it brings the pack together and generates enthusiasm for a hunt. But over long distances, howling
