Eastern Timber Wolf
For nearly 100 years, the forests of the State of Maine have seen close to none eastern timber wolves. The animals that once roamed the woods are gone and may never return. This is why in 1969 the eastern timber wolf was placed on the endangered species list. With great efforts, maybe someday, the eastern timber wolf may inhabit the woods of Maine again.
The eastern timber wolfs scientific name is Canis lupus lycaon. It is a sub-species of the Canis lupis, or Gray Wolf. Its taxonomic group is the mammal, and it is a part of the canine family. The eastern timber wolves are the largest of the canine family. Its height is from 26 to 32 inches at the shoulders. They can be 5-6.5 ft. long, and can weigh between 55-115 lbs. Eastern timber wolves come in a variety of colors. The most common are gray, black and white.
The eastern timber wolf diet includes mainly deer and moose. They also smaller animals like beaver and rabbits. When wolves were not endangered in the North East, they would help keep the larger herbivores in balance with the ecosystem, and by reducing the pressure the deer and moose place on forest, the eastern timber wolf played an important role in preserving biodiversity in the state of Maine. On average, a wolf will kill 18 deer in a year.
The eastern timber wolf is a social animal that lives in packs. A pack consists of two parents, their offspring, and a few adults that do not breed. The parents are called the alpha male and female. The alpha male is usually the largest and strongest in the pack. The two parents keep other wolves from breeding by physical harassment. The parents usually produce on litter a year, consisting of five or six pups. After the pups have matured to adults, which takes two years, they have a choice. They can either leave the pack and look for a mate, trying to start their own pack. The other option is to stay with the pack, and maybe work its way up the "dominance hierarchy" (parents at the top, non-breeding adults in the middle, and pups at the bottom.)
The eastern timber wolf is extremely territorial. A wolf pack's territory may cover from 20 to 120 square miles.
The history behind the extirpation of the grey wolf in the United States dates back to the very first European settlers that colonized eastern North America in the late 16th century. The killing of gray wolves was done primarily out of fear in an attempt to protect livestock, and, in some cases, to protect human life within the colonies. As more settlers expanded West, the practice of killing wolves was considerably increased to protect livestock that included cows, pigs, and chickens. As waves of European settlers expanded westward, they began to deplete the deer, moose, and elk populations. The gray wolves food source continual depletion gave rise to wolf populations actively targeting the settler’s livestock, causing great financial loss. The fiscal loss of livestock became such an issue to wealthy ranchers and settlers that they began to offer cash rewards for wolf pelts. This practice gave birth to a lucrative cottage industry of professional hunters and trappers. As the wolves began to move further West, and into Wyoming, they began to diminish the elk and moose population. To respond to this threat, Congress approved funding in 1914, to eliminate the native gray wolves from
This makes them seem less menacing and scary like the first article makes them look. Sharon Levy says in part "It is only in the two decades that biologists have started to build a clearer picture of wolf ecology….Instead of seeing rogue man-eaters and savage packs, we now understand that wolves have evolved to live in extended family groups.." (ll 19-22) This article also explains the positive overall effects of the wolves moving back to Yellowstone. Not only did the wolves have a new home filled with beautiful elk for prey they were also protected from hunters. This changed the attitude of the wolves as well as their population, of course their population grew and stayed more
The gray wolf, Canis lupus, on Isle Royal is a small ever fluctuating population. On the endangered species list since 1978, the gray wolf has recently been taken off the endangere...
The maned wolf is omnivorous and is a secondary consumer alike the Coyote and Darwin's fox. It has a similar diet to the coyote’s, since it feeds on small and medium sized mammals such as rodents, birds, fish and rabbits. Unlike the coyote and Darwin's fox, the maned wolf does not have any specific enemies or predators, but it may be attacked or even killed by feral dogs.
The second level in the hierarchy of grey wolves is beta. The betas are subordinate wolves that help the alpha in decisionmaking or other pack activities. The beta wolf can be either male
In many areas, the deer have adapted to eat primarily agricultural crops (crops grown by humans). In many parts of the country, a deer’s diet may consist of up to 50% farm-grown corn. Obviously the deer eat some native foods, such as some trees and bushes, particularly buck brush and rose, but along with small amounts of dogwood, chokecherry, plum, red cedar, pine, and many other species of plants. Forbs, particularly sunflowers, are important, however grasses and sedges are used only briefly in spring and fall. White-tailed deer are the largest game animal in North America.
By the 1880's the majority of the bison were gone, so the wolves had to change food sources. This meant that they turned their attention to domestic livestock, causing farmers and ranchers to fight back. There were even some states offering bounties for the wolves. Montana had a bounty on wolves that totaled more than $350,000 on 81,000 wolves. Due to the lack of a food source, as well as the bounties being offered, a wolf was no longer safe in the lower 48 states.
Not many people know about the arctic wolf, it is the snowy white version of a wolf. They have a really big appite when it comes to eating. They most only eat one meal a day and eat up to 20 pounds in that one meal. They are mostly carnivores; they mainly eat big animals like the caribou and the musk ox so they can feed themselves and the whole pack (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). People eat up to three meals a day, but wolves can go up to days with out eating a single thing (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). When wolves are hunting they have to be able to have a plan to catch their food. Wolves would get all the pack members that are hunting to surround the animal, and pounces on them. One bit to the neck and the animal would be dead. When they are eating they will eat everything, like the meat, shin, fur and bone (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). Also Arctic wolves can live up to 20 years in captivity, while they can only live 7- 15 years in the wild (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). Arctic wolves are one of the most prettiest and unique types of wolf. When Arctic wolves are pups t...
The two become great friends and treat each other like brothers. The wolf calls Torak Tall Tailness and Torak calls the pup Wolf. The brothers track, hunt, and play together for many moons. Torak comes to the realization that Wolf is his guide, and together they begin to head north towards the Mountain of the World Spirit. Part 2: Chapters 7-13.
Sometimes they even hunt moose. Their sense of smell is superior. Wolves hunt in packs all male to be exact. Wolf packs are mostly led by the parents of the wolves and some other wolves with the parent wolf to join their pack for hunting and killing their prey. The Gray Wolf can also run as fast as 31 - 37 MPH which makes them really good hunters. And they have been seen viciously attacking people. Unlike some animals wolves don’t hibernate so they have to hunt all year. Wolves also tend to mate in the early spring as well. Then before you know it the female wolf has babies some time during the winter, and their babies also have to eat.
For instance, the Timber Wolves breed from January to April, while the Arctic wolves breed from May to June. That is about two months shorter than the timber wolves! Usually the alpha male and female Timber Wolves breed together, and they usually have around six in a litter, but can have a range from one to eleven. The female Arctic Wolves have their pups from two to three years, which is almost a month later than any other wolf species! Although there are many differences in these two wolf specie’s life cycle, there are still similarities. Like humans, Timber and Arctic wolves do not leave their pups! The parents provide meat and meda for food, along with shelter. When these pups are older they can either stay in their original pack or find a different pack. The Timber and Arctic Wolves lifespan is an average of seven years, but usually five to six because of lack of prey. When the wolves are pregnant, they live underground to keep safe from any other species out in the open. This is good for the mother and the wolf
However, the hunters would not keep all of the wolves that grew up from the cubs they had. Keeping a wolf that became overly aggressive towards them, or if it had little practical use, would have been both pointless and dangerous to their group. They most likely would have killed those types of wolves or left them behind to fend for themselves. The hunters would have chosen semi-tame wolves and those with the most desirable traits and abilities and bred the two together, repeating the process until what resembled a dog today. The first bones found which ...
“The animals are reducing the number of trees and seedlings and affecting which species will survive, forestry experts say” (NBC news). A wildlife professor estimated that deer cause at least $750 million in damage to the timber industry. This becomes a big impact on the economy. “We view it as problem of our own making,” said Laura Simon, field director of urban wildlife and sanctuaries program for the Humane Society of the United States. “We have created an ideal landscape for deer.” (NBC news). Deer are said to eat anything and everything, this is especially proven when farms have their crops
Over the past several years, the gray wolf, native to the Wisconsin area, has been listed federally as an endangered species due to the graphic and horrific treatment they had received during the industrialization periods of America, when they were frowned upon and hated because they are predatory creatures and did, on occasion, attack livestock and pets. Because the government was encouraging the hunting, including bounties for the animals, the wolves were hunted to near extinction. However, now Wisconsin faces a new problem. With the reintroduction of the wolves to the state, and their continued endangered status federally, the population has increased well beyond expectations, reaching what could be considered a problematic state. A regulated hunt and a population control procedure has become necessary in Wisconsin to protect state's economic endeavors of game, wildlife, and agriculture, and also the wolves themselves, to keep them from overpopulating and facing starvation and lack of land.
Wolves had live throughout parts of the world for thousands of years before humans just kept rising in population and minimizing the wolves’ population through the expansion of their territories for farm agriculture and industrialization. It is only in the United States where humans completely annihilated wolves; they did this by hunting the wolves down until the last wolf was killed in 1926. However, in 1995, 14 wolves were caught from Canada and release into Yellowstone National Park. This makes it almost 70 years since the wolves have been reintroduced back into Yellowstone National Park (17 July 2009)