Facts and Knowledge:
The majestic arctic wolf lives in the silent
vastness of the barren polar regions, where darkness cloaks the land for
up to five months a year. Here it hunts almost every other living animal.
Able to tolerate years of subzero temperatures, months of darkness and weeks
without food, the arctic wolf liven one of the few places on earth where
it is safe from the greatest threat of all -- MAN.
Habitats: Arctic wolves
inhabit some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world. In April, the
air temperatures rarely rises above -22 F. The ground is permeably frozen.
The arctic wolf is one of the few mammals that can tolerate these conditions.
The wolf preys on lemmings and arctic hare, buts it most substantial source
of food is the musk ox and caribou. Because of the scarcity of grazing plants,
animals must roam a large area in order to find enough food to survive. Consequently,
the wolf pack has to travel over eras of up to 800 square miles in search
of its prey. When winter temperatures plummet, the wolves may follow
low migrating caribou south.
Breeding: Throughout the fall and winter,
wolves keep on the move, but after mating in March, the pregnant female
leaves the pack to find a nursery den. She may dig a new one, but where
the ground is frozen, she will be forces to return to an old den in a cave
or rock cleft. The cubs are born deaf, blind, and helpless. They are
totally dependent of their mother, and she is turn relies her mate to bring
her food she needs. After
a month the cubs are able to eat meat. From then on , the whole pack shares
the job of feeding them with regurgitated meat from a kill. The cubs
may strike out on their own the following year.
Food & Hunting: Full grown caribou
and musk oxen are far too powerful for a single wolf to attack alone, so
wolves must always work together as a pack when hunting large prey.
Surprise attacks are almost impossible on the open tundra, by the time the
pack approaches, its prey is in a defensive stance. Musk Oxen, for example,
will form a circle with their calves safely on the inside.
The wolf pack must then try to disrupt the
herd. The wolves circle the herd and prowl around, forcing the oxen to shift
their ground to face them. If the wolves are successful, the oxen
scatter. Once, the herd has scattered, the wolves give chase, trying
to isolate a young or weak animal. If one wolf catches a victim, the
others will aid in killing it. A musk ox provides enough food to last
the wolves several days.
Key Facts: Sizes, Weight, breeding, lifestyle,
related Species
Length: Head and body, 3 - 5 ft.
Height: To shoulder, 25 - 31 in
Weight: Up to 175 lbs females lighter
Sexual maturity: Males 3 years, Females
2 years
Gestation: 51 - 35 days
No of young: usually 4 - 5 cubs
Call: A chorus of howls
Habit: Lives in family groups of up to
30, but usually 7 - 10
Diet: Mainly arctic hares, musk ox, caribou,
and lemmings.
Life span: 7 years average
Related Species: The arctic wolf is a
subspecies of the gray wolf. Others are the timber wolf of America and the
common wolf of Eurasia.
Distribution: Throughout the Arctic land
mass, but not on the permanent ice sheets of the sea ice.
Conservation: Wolves in general have
been under threat throughout history. The Arctic wolf is the only subspecies
still found over the whole of its original range, largely because it rarely
encounters humans.
The Social Status in a pack: Social status
within a pack is expressed by a complex "language" of gestures, barks and
growls. High ranking wolves constantly assert their position, making lesser
members cringe or lie on their backs in submission. Dispute this behavior,
there is very little friction.
Did you know:
Wolves will often go days without food, but
can then eat up to 100 pounds of meat at a time.
Food is so scarce in the Arctic that no part
of a wolf's prey is wasted; a wolf will eat every part of an arctic hare,
including the skin, fur, and bones.
Several of the younger pack members will watch
the cubs while the mother wolf is hunting.
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