The wolf is truly a special animal.As the most widely distributed of all land mammals,the wolf,formally the gray wolf (Canis lupus),is also one of the most adaptable.It inhabits all the vegetation types of the Northern Hemisphere and preys on all the large mammals living there.It also feeds on all the other animals in its environment,scavenges,and can even eat fruits and berries.Wolves frequent forests and prairies,tundra,barren ground,mountains,deserts,and swamps.Some wolves even visit large cities,and,of course,the wolf's domesticated version,the dog,thrives in urban environments.
Such a ubiquitous creature must,as a species,be able to tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions,such as temperatures from -56° to +50°C (-70° to +120°F).To capture its food in the variety of habitats,topographies,and climates it frequents,the wolf must be able to run,climb,lope,and swim,and it performs all these functions well.It can travel more than 72 km (43 mi)/day,run at 56-64 km (34-38 mi)/hr,and swim as far as 13 km (8 mi) (P.C.Paquet,personal communication),no doubt aided by the webs between its toes.
The wolf leads a feast-or-famine existence,gorging on as much as 10 kg (22 pounds) of food at a time,but able to fast for months if necessary.Nevertheless,if all goes well (which for most wolves it does not),wolves can live 13 years or more in the wild (Mech 1988b) and up to 17 years in captivity (E.Klinghammer and P.A.Goodman,personal communication).
As might be expected,a widely distributed animal like the wolf varies physically all around its circumpolar home.The desert-inhabiting variety of Israel can weigh as little as 13 kg (29 pounds),whereas its northern tundra cousin can reach over 78 kg (172 pounds).The wolf's color varies across the entire black-white spectrum,with most wolves tending to be a mottled gray (Gipson et al.2002).
Wolves live in packs of up to forty-two,but can survive even as lone individuals.Although wolf packs are usually territorial,where necessary,they can migrate hundreds of kilometers between where they raise their pups and where they take those pups in winter to follow their prey.The great variation in the wolf's environment,and in the creature's behavior and ecology as it contends with that environment,makes generalizing difficult.This problem can lead to false generalizations and misunderstanding about the animal.
Although wolves have provoked human beings by sharing their domestic and wild prey without permission,these predators have withstood humankind's resulting assault on them everywhere except where the ultimate weapon,poison,has been used.Given half a chance,wolves have responded by repopulating suitable areas with remarkable success.In the process,wolves have gained the support of many humans and have become a conservation challenge—one that is rapidly being met.This animal that sits on its haunches at the top of the food chain has become a symbol of the wilderness,an icon to environmentalists,and a poster child for endangered species recovery efforts.
Because of the strong feelings that both wolf haters and wolf advocates hold,it has been hard to sell the truth about the wolf—folks of each viewpoint resist accepting information they believe supports views opposite their own.Yet we must at least present the information as best we can.In this respect,we have tried throughout this book to draw valid generalizations where possible while indicating where lack of information precludes them.
