How long do timber wolves live

Packs have a leader, known as the alpha male. Each pack guards its territory against intruders and may even kill other wolves that are not part of their pack. Wolves are nocturnal and will hunt for food at night and sleep during the day. Wolves are voracious eaters. They can eat up to 20 lbs.

Since they are carnivores, their meals consist of meat that they have hunted. Gray wolves usually eat large prey such as moose, goats, sheep and deer. Normally, the pack of wolves will find the weakest or sickest animal in a herd, circle it and kill it together. Wolves are known to attack and kill domestic animals as well as animals they find in the wild. Red wolves eat smaller prey such as rodents, insects and rabbits.

They aren't afraid of going outside their carnivorous diet and will eat berries on occasion, too. Young wolves are called pups. The leader of the pack and his female mate are usually the only ones in a pack that will have offspring. They mate in late winter. The female has a gestation period of nine weeks and gives birth to a litter consisting of one to 11 pups.

When the pups are born, they are cared for by all of the adult wolves in the pack. Young pups start off drinking milk from their mother, but around five to 10 weeks they will start eating food regurgitated from adult pack members. At six months, wolf pups become hunters, and at 2 years old they are considered adults. Wolf paws are able to traverse easily through a wide variety of terrains, especially snow.

There is a slight webbing between each toe, which allows wolves to move over snow more easily than comparatively hampered prey. Wolves are digitigrades, so the relative largeness of their feet helps to better distribute their weight on snowy surfaces. The front paws are larger than the hind paws and feature a fifth digit, a dew claw, a claw that grows higher on the leg so that, when the animal is standing, it does not make contact with the ground that is absent on hind paws.

Bristled hairs and blunt claws enhance grip on slippery surfaces, and special blood vessels keep paw pads from freezing. Today, there are over wolves in Yellowstone Park and over in Idaho. The reintroduction of wolves is still in ongoing debate and is sometimes heated about already introduced wolves and the possibility of reintroducing more.

Through negotiations between livestock ranchers and Defenders of Wildlife, the reintroduction of wolves has been a great success and number recovery goals have been met. However, the reintroduction still provides a sharp divide between industry and environmentalist. Wolves mate in January to March. The female wolfs gestation period is 63 days. An average litter is 4 to 7 pups.

At birth, wolf pups tend to have darker fur and blue eyes. Their eyes will change to a yellow-gold or orange colour when the pups are 8 — 16 weeks old. Though extremely unusual, it is possible for an adult wolf to retain its blue-coloured eyes. Wolves can live to be between 8 — 13 years. In the wild, Grey Wolves live about 6 to 8 years and sometimes up to 13 years. In zoos, Grey Wolves may live up to 17 years. Grey wolves are carnivores.

Their natural diet is solely meat and they often prey on animals larger than they are including — deer, moose, caribou, elk, bison and musk-oxen as well small animals such as beaver, hares and other small rodents. Toggle navigation. Language English. Key Facts. Common name Common Names. Latin name Scientific Name Canis lupus.

Physical Description The wolf is an ancestor of the domestic dog but instead of barking, it howls. The grey wolf has a number of subspecies, including the Arctic wolf, which vary in colour and size according to where they live.

The grey wolf has strong jaws with sharp canine and carnassial cheek teeth for tearing and chewing meat. Size Length: cm Height; cm Weightkg Hunting in packs Wolves may hunt alone, but usually they hunt in a family pack of between 3 and 30 wolves.

Hunting in packs helps wolves kill large animals such as moose or elk. They are good swimmers and when necessary pursue their prey into water. A big appetite The timber wolf can eat a lot of meat at one meal and then go without food for a considerable time. Though it does eat large animals like caribou, musk oxen, deer and moose, most of its diet consists of of small animals like mice, rabbits and squirrels.

It also eats fish, crabs and dead animals carrion. Family life Wolves generally pair for life.