wolf

An Arctic wolf in its camouflage winter coat. Wolves feed on small mammals and birds, occasionally attacking larger animals, such as reindeer or sheep, or eating berries and carrion when prey is scarce.

A timber wolf Canis lupus howling. Wolves live in open country and forests, hunting in packs by day. They have great stamina and can usually outrun their prey, which may be as large as a deer or elk. They are strong swimmers and sometimes pursue deer into the water.

Any of two species of large wild dogs of the genus Canis. The grey or timber wolf C. lupus, of North America and Eurasia, is highly social, measures up to 90 cm/3 ft at the shoulder, and weighs up to 45 kg/100 lb. It has been greatly reduced in numbers except for isolated wilderness regions. The red wolf C. rufus, generally more slender and smaller (average weight about 15 kg/35 lb) and tawnier in colour, may not be a separate species, but a grey wolf-coyote hybrid. It used to be restricted to southern central USA, but is now thought to be extinct in the wild.

Wolves in Canada were on the increase 1994. There were an estimated 40-60 wolves on the East Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. Wolves are also increasing in parts of Europe, including a thriving population of 3,000 in the Carpathian Mountains, mostly in Romania, and 2,000 in northern Spain.

Conservation A US federal programme to reintroduce the North American grey wolf to Wyoming and Idaho state was launched 1995, when six wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. They are fitted with radiotransmitters so their movements can be monitored. The grey wolf had been largely exterminated from the southwestern USA in the 1930s, and is listed as endangered in every state except Alaska and Minnesota. In 1998 the wolf population in Yellowstone had grown to 120 (a total of 31 wolves were released 1995-96).

The Mexican grey wolf Canis lupus baileyi is the rarest subspecies of grey wolf and a captive breeding programme was established in 1977 to boost its numbers. This had proved so successful by 1998 that 11 wolves were released back into the wild, in the Arizona Apache National Forest. This was followed by the release of two captive grey wolf packs (19 animals) in 1999.