This is a subspecies of the gray wolf familiar to us. It lives in the north of Greenland, in the Arctic regions of Canada, in Alaska. In a harsh climate with snow drifts, icy winds, bitter frosts and permafrost, the animal lives for hundreds of years. The polar wolf has completely preserved its natural habitat, unlike its gray, red and other counterparts. This fact is explained by the rare appearance of a person in these harsh lands.
Polar wolf description
This is a large, powerful animal - the height of males at the withers reaches one hundred centimeters, the body length is one hundred and eighty centimeters, and the weight is within ninety kilograms. Females are on average 15% smaller. The Arctic polar wolf has a thick light coat with a reddish tint, small erect ears, long legs, and a fluffy tail.
This animal does not see sunlight for months. He is accustomed to the polar night. In search of food, he can scour the snowy plain for a week. At one time, he easily eats ten kilograms of meat. Not a trace remains of his prey. Even bones get into the stomach of a predator, which he gnaws with forty-two powerful teeth. Whereinhe practically does not chew food, but swallows whole pieces.
Life in a pack
It has long been known that the wolf is a social animal. He lives only in a flock. As a rule, this is a family group of seven to twenty individuals. It is led by a male and a female. All the rest are cubs and grown up young wolves that remained in the pack from previous litters. Sometimes a lone wolf can “attach” to the pack, but it strictly obeys the leaders.
Giving birth to puppies in a pack is the priority right of the female leader. The cubs of other females are destroyed immediately. The polar wolf of the tundra adheres to such harsh laws - it is difficult to feed a large number of mouths.
The pack's survival depends on how large its hunting grounds are. That is why they fight to the death for their territory. This territory can be from fifty to one thousand five hundred square kilometers.
Migration south
In autumn or early winter, the flock moves to the south, where it is easier to find food. She follows the reindeer. It is they, as well as musk oxen, that are the main big game hunted by the polar wolf. They do not refuse both lemmings and polar hares.
Food
The polar wolf is omnivorous. He eats everything that he manages to catch, and those who are much weaker than him. In the summer, predators feed on birds, frogs and even beetles. Do not refuse berries, fruits and lichens. In winter, their diet contains more meat - deer, musk oxen.
Polarthe wolf is a born hunter. He skillfully pursues his prey, uses the change of racers, ambushes. Hunting is especially successful in the spring: when the snow melts a little, the deer falls through, and the predator quickly catches up with it.
A strong and he althy ungulate has nothing to fear from a wolf. Therefore, the flock tries to find old and sick animals or young and inexperienced deer. Having attacked the herd, the wolves seek to disperse it in order to drive away their future victim and quickly overwhelm it. In cases where the herd has time to regroup and surround its offspring in a dense ring, strong hooves and sharp horns will frighten off predators, and they will ingloriously leave the battlefield.
If the hunt is successful, then the leader starts the meal first, he eats the best pieces, and at this time the flock tramples nearby, waiting for their turn. If the polar wolf catches a small animal, he will eat it whole, along with the skin. He needs to thoroughly satisfy his hunger, because only ten percent of his hunting trips are successful.
Reproduction
Puberty occurs in females by three years, in males by two. Shortly before giving birth, the she-wolf prepares a hole. Since it is impossible to dig it in permafrost, childbirth takes place in a cave, a crevice between rocks, or in an old den. Pregnancy lasts from sixty to seventy-five days. There are no more than three puppies in a litter, although there have been cases when five and seven puppies were born, but this happens very rarely.
Newborns are born completely helpless and blind, withweighing about four hundred grams. They stay in the lair for a month, after which they begin to make their exits "into the light". All this time the she-wolf feeds them with milk. A few months later, she begins to feed the cubs with food.
The white polar wolf is a very good and caring parent. The whole flock takes care of the babies. When a she-wolf goes hunting, young wolves look after the babies. Even when there is very little food, all members of the flock try to feed the babies. Thus, a stable population size is maintained. In this case, human influence is practically not felt - there are few who want to hunt in the Arctic.
Starting independent living
After reaching puberty, young wolves leave the pack, trying to create their own. They find empty territory and mark it. How their life will develop further is unknown. If a free female appears on its territory, a new pair will be formed, which will eventually give birth to puppies. As a result, a new flock will appear. But there may be another outcome of the situation - the polar wolf, pushing around alone, adjoins another pack. However, in this case, he has no chance of becoming a leader - he will always remain on the sidelines.
Smart and cunning predator - the polar wolf - tries not to meet a person. Their interests can intersect only on the reindeer, which a person carefully protects. But in any case, the wolf should not be allowed to become a sworn enemy of people, and they would completely exterminate it, as happened in Mexico, Japan,Iceland.
