The wolf is an animal found in one of the vastest geographic ranges of the animal kingdom. At one time, the wolf was found in most areas of the Northern Hemisphere from North America to Asia, from Alaska to Mexico, and from Europe to North India to China. Within these regions, the wolf can be found in various topographies including tundras, forests, plains, and savannahs. Unfortunately, due to human hunting and killing, the presence and prevalence of the wolf population has drastically declined and they are currently on the endangered species list in the United States and other regions of the world.
Scientifically, the wolf’s domain is a eukaryote and it is in the kingdom of animalia. Its phylum is chordata and it is classified in the class of mammalia. Its order is carnivora and its family is canidae. Its genus is Canis and its species is lupus. Hence, its scientific name, Canis lupus.
The wolf is in the family of canines and it’s the largest member of the canine family. Male wolves, on average, weigh about 95 to 100 pounds and female wolves are 80 to 85 pounds. From nose tip to tail tip, male wolves are about 5 to 6.5 feet and females are 4.5 to 6 feet. Wolves are extremely adapted to running and have long and powerful legs, which allow them to run at great speeds. In addition to speed, their long legs allow them to chase prey in difficult conditions such as deep snow. Wolves can maintain a chase for twenty minutes and are even great swimmers, allowing them to pursue prey in the water. They have about 40 – 50 teeth and extremely large and powerful masseter muscles that give them a powerful bite. Wolves can be an array of colors from pure white to mottled gray to pure black, and most commonly, wolves are gray. Their fur ...
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... still necessary to ensure the survival of the wolf population.
Recently, the wolf has had a violent stigma surrounding it and I have always been curious to why. I have always found them fascinating, and I believe part of my fascination is because dogs, or “man’s best friend,” are all descendants of the wolf. This led me to wonder what exactly is the history and relationship between wolves and humans. Unfortunately the research for this paper has shown our history is a sad and violent one for the wolf population. Wolves have always been one of my favorite animals. They are extremely interesting not only because of their proximity to humans but also due to their similarity to humans. Through this research, I realized that wolves are very similar to us as wolf packs, just like human networks of family and friends, work together throughout life to grow and thrive.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ― H.P. Lovecraft. Fear drives mankind to hate what he cannot comprehend. With this irrational fear mankind is controlled and set on a path of destruction and chaos. In the autobiography Never Cry Wolf written by Farley Mowat, the main character (Farley Mowat), journeys to the Canadian tundra to study the much-feared wolf. There he discovers the fear brought upon by men, and how it can result horribly for the wolves. The human race was so frightened by the unknown species that they began to blame the wolves for cold slaughters, portrayed them as vicious killers, and because of the fear of the unknown tried to exterminate wolves all together.
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
According to Karl N. Llewellyn and E. Adamson Hoebel, making new laws in our societies helps us to become more discipline and safe and it also prevents us from crimes such as rape, sexual assault or harassment, violent crime fraud, robbery, murder etc due to a larger society which Hoebel called “heterogeneous”. Many people in the modern society can not make their own decisions without hearing or listening to the people in power such as the government (legislatures), police, lawyers/ judges. Just like the “Cheyenne community”, the community they come to together to solve conflicts between individuals by involving individuals or the community as a whole for the protection of themselves.
Wolves used to thrive in the western United States. There was ample game to hunt and plenty of places to live and wander. Until people moved in, wolves were settled. As European settlement expanded to the west, it began to take its toll on the wolves and their habitat. Clearing of the forests came first, which was then accompanied by significant over-hunting in this area (Noceker). Slowly wolves became concentrated into smaller and smaller areas in the west. Finally, they were assumed to be bothers to the ranchers and farmers and maybe a threat to those people who lived in the area.
Early settlers, all the way back in the 1700s, tried to rid these marvelous creatures from the North American continent, which almost lead to their extinction. They poisoned, trapped, furred, shot and killed all the wolves that posed a threat to their lands and livestock. The settlers seemed to be getting their way in the beginning of the 1700s because as human population increased in America, unfortunately, the wolf population plummeted. They pushed the wolves out of their original habitats and the settlers made their habitats their home. The wolf population could have plummeted for many reasons, but the main reason was the fear the humans had of the wolves. Occasionally, the wolves would hunt in the fields where the settler’s livestock would graze and at the right time, the wolves would ambush the livestock for food. The wolves hunted the cattle because the horses were to much work to kill: the horses had strong hind legs that were a threat to the wolves. Farmers and Settlers also saw these wolves a...
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...
This report is all about the gray wolf. Its scientific name is Canis Lupis. Canis is the Latin word for dog. The genus also includes jackals and coyotes. Lupis is the Latin word for wolf. Gray wolves look similar to German shepherds, but the wolf has longer legs and bigger feet. The color of a gray wolf can range from black to white, but shades of gray are the most common. A unique feature about gray wolves is that the farther north you find them, the larger they are. Males can range from (nose-to-tail) five to six and a half feet and females range from four and a half to six feet. The normal life span of a wolf is about thirteen years, but most wolves don’t live past ten years for numerous reasons. Examples include disease, hunters, etc. The wolves that live in Arctic climates have very thick coats of fur that keeps them warm. Wolves, like all canines, have 42 teeth. Their “fangs”, or canine teeth, are used to grab prey and like a hook. These teeth can be as long as two and a half inches.
The Gray Wolf’s Coat/ Pelage is soft dense under hair overlaid by guard hair arranged in irregular rows. The Gray Wolf has thick gray fur and some wolves even have darker colors of fur like black or brown. The male wolf’s weight in pounds is 125 - 135 and the females range
Canis Lupus, the Latin term for the “North American Wolf”. A meat eating mammal with the capability of weighing up to 180 pounds and reaching a height of sixty-three inches, the wolf is easily the largest member of the canine family. Over 500,000 wolves once lived in harmony, roaming the Northern Americas alongside the Native American tribes and the rest of the ecosystem. Wolves live in packs, a pack essentially being a family. While the average size of a pack is six to ten, the largest confirmed pack recorded in North America can be found in Yellowstone National Park where the “Druid Pack” numbers thirty-seven strong and counting. There have been alleged reports of a pack that attacked a small Russian town killing thirty horses in just four days. This pack numbered up to almost 400 members. Animal experts remain suspicious due to the fact that this number is almost fifteen times the size of an average sized pack. Wolves heavily rely on their pack. Every member of the pack has a specific job that benefits the pack, without the pack, death would be almost imminent. The pack is set up as a hierarchy, with an alpha male and an alpha female. The alphas get the best of everything, the best part of the kill, the best sleeping spot, and the breeding rights. When hunting, one member will scout ahead and will determine the weakest member of the herd. Once determined, the rest of the pack will chase the animal down and either takes it down on the run or chase it until it tires out. Unlike many predators in the animal kingdom, wolves eat their prey alive. While wolves are known for their spine tingling howls, the howl is not the only way they communicate. “Wolf Language” so to speak, consists of many grunts, snarls, growls, yips, and whines....
The grey wolf has been transformed into what we, today, call a dog. After years of traveling with humans, the wolf began to change and became adapted and tame enough to socialize with humans. The environment it was placed into was one of the causes for change, and another was the role it played for humans.
During the ice age wolves began to grow closer to humans and converted. They transformed into a very unusual way. The wolves and humans used to be a
Wolves weigh around 70-120 pounds, 26-34 inches in height at the shoulder and very lean and powerful. The wolf is a very social creature, which forms a bond with its pack. It is said, “When you look into their eyes, you can see their spirit.” When hunting they will strike as one, as they are very dynamically structured. A pack could consist of 6 or 7 members and as many as 15 wolves. Two members of the pack are parents, and the rest are the offspring from different seasons. The pack usually has a mated pair and their offspring. They care for their you...
Let me tell you something. In 1970, Gray Wolves used to have a population of 250,000. But now due to mass wolf hunting, the numbers are down to 500. Hello everyone. Today, I’d like to speak on behalf of the Wolf Conservation Center about the importance of wolves, and why they should be protected. Wolves are too often a misunderstood creature, instead of showing fascination, we always fear them, which is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. The society of wolves is just like ours, sorted by ranks, defined by confidence, and full of emotions. We are more like them than we think. Except they are being hunted, and we are not. In many parts of where they range, all types of wolves are being persecuted for killing livestock. As a result, humans have been killing wolves for years, because of us, their numbers are decreasing by thousands.
of a gray wolf. Adult female’s average about 52 pounds and adult male average about