Species: Canis lupus

Gray Wolf

Species

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Species of concern in the Puget Sound watershed

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Largest of the wild dogs; total length to 205 cm, tail to 50 cm, nose pad averaging 31 mm or more in diameter; upper canine more than 12 mm in anteroposterior diameter at base and not extending below level of anterior mental foramen when lower jaw is in place; peleage varies from nearly black to white, some shade of gray in most areas; condylobasal length of skull 203-269 mm (Hall 1981).

Articles:

Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)

August 01, 2013

This article was originally published by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as part of its annual report Threatened and Endangered Wildlife in Washington.

Members of the Teanaway pack, April 2011. Photo by U.S. Forest Service

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Carnivora

Family

Canidae

Genus

Canis

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105212

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Grey Wolf - Lobo Gris - Wolf - loup gris

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Carnivores

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Carnivora - Canidae - Canis - Wayne et al. (1992) examined mtDNA variability in North America, Europe, and southern Asia and found 18 mtDNA genotypes, seven derived from hybridization with coyotes, four confined to the New World, six confined to the Old World, and one shared by both areas. Genetic differentiation among populations is small but significant. In the Old World most localities have a single unique genotype, whereas in the New World several genotypes occur at most localities and three of the five genotypes are nearly ubiquitous. They concluded that apparent genetic differences among extant wolf populations may be a recent phenomenon reflecting population declines and habitat fragmentation rather than a long history of genetic isolation.

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

Wolf; a large dog-like mammal.

Migration

true - false - false - >

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Predominant prey: ungulates. When these are low or seasonally unavailable, eats alternative prey, such as beaver, snowshoe hare, rodents, and carrion. Commonly hunts in packs, but lone wolves and pairs are able to kill prey as large as adult moose (Thurber and Peterson 1993). In the vicinity of Glacier National Park, feeds primarily on white-tailed deer; sometimes kills mountain lions and sometimes usurps ungulate prey killed by lions (Bangs and Fritts 1993). White-tailed deer and moose carrion were the primary prey in southern Ontario (Forbes and Theberge 1996).

Reproduction Comments

Breeds late fall/early winter in south, February-March in north. Gestation lasts about 2 months. Young are born in March and early April in the south (Hoffmeister 1986), late April in northwestern Montana, late May-early June in Northwest Territories (Heard and Williams 1992). Litter size is 4-10 (average 6-7); 1 litter/year. Only the dominant male/female mate and rear offspring. Pups emerge from the den in about 3 weeks. Pups are weaned in 50 days (also reported as 5 weeks). Young and parents vacate the den when young are about 3 months old (Hoffmeister 1986). Some offspring remain with the pack, others disperse as they mature. Breeding first occurs in the second or third year (Hoffmeister 1986). Lone wolves generally do not successfully rear young, but they may if food is abundant (Boyd and Jimenez, 1994, J. Mamm. 75:14-17).

Ecology Comments

Territorial throughout the year in most areas (but see Migration/Mobility comments). Packs consist of one or more family groups (generally 2-8 members, up to 21) with dominance hierarchy. In the Glacier National Park area, packs generally include 8-12 individuals (Bangs and Fritts 1993). Not uncommonly solitary; lone wolves may move through territories of established packs (e.g., see Thurber and Peterson 1993). Population density is low; at Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, peak density was 9/100 sq km. Population density on Isle Royale followed trends in food supply (moose), with lag of 2-3 years (Peterson and Page 1988). Generally wolves are not instrumental in causing prey declines; effect varies with other circumstances. In Quebec, winter weather appeared to affect deer population trend more than did wolf predation (Potvin et al. 1992). In south-central Alaska, wolf predation may have limited caribou recruitment (Bergerud and Ballard 1988), though winter starvation also was proposed as a significant poplation control. May take livestock as secondary prey when deer fawns (the primary summer prey) are less vulnerable due to better prenatal nutrition resulting from mild winter (USFWS 1990). In Minnesota, snow-induced changes in deer distribution and mobility resulted in changes in wolf movement patterns, sociality, and feeding behavior (when snow was shallow, wolves traveled farther and more often, spent less time with pack members, and used conifer cover less and killed fewer deer there) (Fuller 1991).

Length

205

Weight

40000

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2006-02-17

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-15

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Formerly throughout North America south through much of Mexico; also Europe and Asia. Replaced by the red wolf in the southeastern United States. Today found south of Canada only in northern Mexico (no recent confirmed reports; extirpated or maybe a few in eastern Sonora, Chihuahua, and/or Zacatecas?), a few areas in the Rocky Mountains (northwestern Montana, reintroduction sites in Wyoming and Idaho), northwestern Great Lakes region (northeastern third of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, Michigan Upper Peninsula), and Cascade Mountains of northern Washington. Formerly much more numerous in the Rocky Mountain states than in the southwestern U.S. (Johnson 1991). Extirpated in much of southern Canada (see Theberge [1992] and Can. Field-Nat. 106:138 for range/status map); remains in 85% of former total Canadian range (Theberge 1991). In 1995, wolf reintroductions were initiated in the Yellowstone ecosystem and in central Idaho (nonessential experimental populations) (USFWS 1994; Federal Register, 16 August 1994; Bangs and Fritts 1993; End. Sp. Bull. 20(4):4-5). See Bangs et al. (1998) for information on the status of gray wolf restoration in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. In 1998, USFWS (Federal Register, 12 January 1998) announced its intention to reintroduce the Mexican gray wolf (subspecies baileyi) into Arizona and New Mexico (Apache and Gila national forests, also possibly White Sands Missile Range). Wolf observations in the Dakotas have increased in recent years, likely related to range expansion and population increases in adjacent areas, especially Minnesota; most occurrences have been of young individuals, suggesting dispersal (Licht and Fritts 1994). Grewal et al. (2004) used genetic data to determine that the wolf population in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, is a southern part of a larger metapopulation of Canis lycaon (or Canis lupus lycaon).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105212