Many people are genuinely horrified by these dangerous predators. This is largely due to the stories that hunters tell. They often characterize wolves as intelligent and even cunning animals. However, not everyone knows that a wolf in nature rarely attacks a person. These ferocious predators prefer to stay away from people, they are used to living their lives, the main meaning of which is hunting.
Wolves: types of wolves
It should be noted that the genus of wolves on Earth is one of the few. It consists of only seven types:
- Canis lupus (wolf);
- Canis aureus (common jackal);
- Canis latrans (coyote);
- Canis rufus (red wolf);
- Canis adustus (striped jackal);
- Canis mesomelas (black-backed jackal);
- Canis simensis (Ethiopian jackal).
The wolf family includes arctic foxes, foxes, maned wolf, raccoon dog.
Habitat
Scientists associate the origin of the wolf with carnivorous predators that lived on our planet for a hundredmillion years ago, and about twenty million years ago, dogs evolved from wolves. How a separate species of Canis lupus formed in Eurasia a million years ago, and by the end of the Pleistocene it had already become the most common predator.
In our time, the habitat of wolves is recorded in Europe, North America, Asia. They inhabit open and semi-open areas. In the north, the border of the distribution of the predator is the coast of the Arctic Ocean. In Hindustan (in southern Asia), the wolf lives up to 16 degrees north latitude. Over the past two and a half centuries, the number of these formidable predators has significantly decreased. Protecting domestic animals, man exterminates them and forces them out of populated areas.
Today, wolves have been completely exterminated in Japan, the British Isles, Holland, France, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, and Central Europe. Wolf species have continued to rapidly disappear in Europe in recent decades.
The wolf is still quite common in the steppes and mountainous regions of Kazakhstan, in the tundra and forest tundra. The characteristic of wolves, which is given in many special publications, suggests that the wolf is quite variable in its range - it has many subspecies, differs in size, color, and lifestyle in natural conditions.
Scientists-zoologists distinguish several dozen subspecies of the wolf. The largest individuals live in the tundra, the smallest - in the southern regions. The mass of an adult animal can range from 18 to 80 kg, their body length can reach 160 cm, the length of the tail is about sixty centimeters.
Wolf color
It largely depends on the habitat. The characteristic of the wolf living in the Arctic suggests that white individuals are often found there. In addition, other colors are found in other regions - a black and white wolf, variants of gray with white, cinnamon, brown, sometimes completely black fur.
Predators found in North America have three color phases. The first is a mixture of gray, black and a shade of cinnamon with brown. The second is black (a mixture of dark brown and black). The third phase is gray with brown.
Coat
These wild animals have an excellent fur coat. The wolf has thick fur (up to eight centimeters long). It has a thick undercoat. The outer layer is formed by long, coarse, black-tipped guard hairs that repel water and the undercoat does not get wet at all.
Wolf teeth
Wolves have the most powerful weapons. Wolf species, regardless of their habitat, have 42 strong and sharp teeth. There are 4 curved five-centimeter fangs in front - two from below and two from above. The predator easily bites through the densest skin of its prey with them. And with carnivorous (molars) teeth, an adult wolf is able to gnaw even an elk thigh bone.
Limbs
Animals that are canine, including wolves, are digitigrade. In other words, they walk on their toes. Only when the predator lies down does it touch the ground with its heels. The front limbs of the wolf are very powerful, thanks to which the load is evenly distributed and the animal does notfalls into loose snow.
Each front paw of a wolf has five toes, but only four work. The paws have well developed bare crumbs, and the toes are collected in a dense and oval lump. They are completed by strong and slightly blunt claws due to contact with the ground. The wolf uses them when digging the ground.
Wolves move by jogging, skipping or galloping. While walking, their speed is about six and a half kilometers per hour. They jog at speeds up to sixteen kilometers per hour. For a very long time, a wolf can run almost non-stop. There are cases when these dangerous predators covered a distance of up to one hundred kilometers in one night.
Smell and hearing
A characteristic of a wolf says that when hunting, it is not the ears or eyes, but the nose that first helps the wolf find prey. They pick up on the wind the smell of even a very small animal, which is located at a distance of up to two kilometers. A keen sense of smell allows you to follow the trail of your prey.
True, predators are not deprived of subtle hearing. When they hear a noise, they begin to move their ears and accurately determine where the sound comes from, often located several kilometers away.
Wolf pack
A wolf family in some cases has up to fifteen individuals, but more often there are eight animals in it. A flock is a family group consisting of animals of different ages. Usually it consists of parents, profits (brood of this year) and pereyarki (animals that have not reached puberty). Sometimes it includes adult animals, nottaking part in reproduction.
In years rich in food, up to 30 or more wolves can gather in packs. The offspring stays in the family for 10-14 months, and then leaves it. Thus, a lone wolf appears. He goes in search of free territory, which he immediately marks, declaring his rights to it. As a rule, such an animal soon finds its mate and a new flock appears. Although there are cases when a lone wolf lives quite a long time outside the pack.
The wolf family is a self-regulating mechanism. In cases where the population density is rather low, then its size is small, the separation of the growing offspring occurs much faster. When environmental conditions are more favorable, the population density increases, therefore, the size of the flock increases, however, up to a certain limit. As a rule, its growth is due to non-packing lone wolves, which are assigned a subordinate position.
The pack is led by a pair of predators - a male wolf and his girlfriend, whom, by the way, he chooses for life. Thus, in the pack there is a core of wolves with a high social status and their subordinates. Pack leaders are distinguished by a very strong character, which allows them to keep order in the family, avoid skirmishes and fights, especially between young wolves.
Family hunting ground
The pack survives on the size of their hunting grounds, so predators protect them fiercely. The border of such territories can be from fifty to one and a halfthousand square kilometers. Wolves mark their territory, and you won't envy a stranger who dares to violate its borders.
Sign Language
As a rule, wolves express their feelings with body movements and facial expressions. The wolf tongue helps to unite the pack and act in an organized manner. For example, when the tail of an animal is held high and its tip is slightly curved, it means that the predator is confident. A friendly wolf keeps the tail down, but at the same time the tip is slightly raised up. A predator with its tail between its legs is either afraid of something, or in this way communicates sympathy.
In addition, the position of the tail can tell about the status of the animal in the pack. The leader always holds it high, and his subordinates keep the tail down. Wagging its tail, a formidable predator invites its relatives to play.
Welcome ceremony
Pack members show respect and devotion to their leader in a welcoming ceremony. With their ears back, crawling, with tightly smoothed hair, they carefully approach the leader and his companion, lick them and gently bite their muzzles.
Wolf Diet
The basis of the diet of wolves are large ungulates - noble and reindeer, saiga, elk, goats and sheep. In the absence of such food, the wolf preys on rodents, rabbits, and in rare cases eats carrion. In regions where there are no ungulates, wolves are not found or live in very small numbers. Predators are attracted by large concentrations of livestock. In the north, in areas with developed sheep and reindeer husbandry, the presence of wolves is a common occurrence.
In Russiawolves are quite widespread. The species of wolves that inhabit our country are well known. There are only six of them:
- forest Central Russian wolf;
- grey;
- tundra;
- Forest Siberian;
- Caucasian;
- Mongolian.
Grey wolf
This representative of the wolf is considered the most common in the world. The description of the gray wolf today can be found in all reference books of zoologists. It stands out for its impressive size. The appearance of this predator is not devoid of nobility. Apparently, therefore, he became the hero of writers who write about animals more than once.
The gray wolf can be found in Europe, America and Asia. A downed, strong body with a wide massive chest, high muscular legs leave no doubt that you are in front of a real predator. This wolf has a broad, but at the same time graceful head with small ears and decorated with dark stripes that are located around almost white cheeks and very light spots above the eyes. The tail is not long, it is almost straight.
The fur is long (up to eight centimeters) and thick, with an undercoat. The coat of animals living in the middle and southern regions is coarse. Wolves from the northern regions have soft and fluffy coats.
Russian wolf
This is a special subspecies of the gray wolf that lives in northern Russia. The Russian wolf is one of the five subspecies that live in our country. Canis lupus communis (Russian wolf) is what Western biologists call this animal. The average male weighs between 40 and 80kilograms, female from 30 to 55 kilograms.
Siberian wolf
This is no less a big beast than the Russian wolf. Many scientists believe that today this species is still conditionally isolated, since the taxonomy of Siberian predators has not yet been completed. These animals have several colors. Light gray is the most common. Buffy shades are barely noticeable or completely absent. The fur is not very high, but rather thick and soft. Most often found in the Far East, Kamchatka (except for the tundra), Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia.
Steppenwolf
This animal is somewhat smaller than representatives of the forest subspecies. He has coarser and sparse hair. On the back, a color with a noticeable predominance of gray-rusty, and often brown hair. In this case, the sides remain light gray. Today, this wolf can be found in the steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Urals, and the Lower Volga region. The species is understudied. The system of characteristic features has not yet been developed. The number of these animals is small, especially in the western regions of the range.
Caucasian wolf
This animal belongs to medium-sized predators. The Caucasian wolf has a coarse and short outer hair, the undercoat is poorly developed. The color of this animal is much darker than that of previously described species. This is due to the uniform distribution of black guard hairs over the skin.
In our country, lives in areas of the Main Caucasian Range, including its wooded foothills.
Mongolian wolf
And this wolf is the smallest of the livingon Russian territory. The weight of an adult animal is rarely more than forty kg. Its fur is dull, dirty gray in color, rough and hard. This species is distributed in the east and south-west of Transbaikalia, as well as in Primorsky Krai.
Tundra Wolf
Big and beautiful animal. You can see his photo below. The body length of males often exceeds 150 cm. Predators have long, soft and thick fur. Color - light colors. In our country, this wolf settles in the forest-tundra and tundra zones of the European part of Kamchatka and Siberia.
Middle Russian (forest) wolf
A powerful predator that lives in the forest-steppe and steppe zones of Russia, often populates Western Siberia. In the northern regions, its entries into the forest-tundra are noted. Although it is generally accepted that the tundra wolf is the largest in Europe and Asia, a representative of this subspecies often exceeds it in size.
Adult animal can have a body length exceeding 160 cm, and its height reaches a meter. Of course, such parameters are typical for the largest individuals. On average, an adult male weighs 45 kg, rearing (1 year and 8 months) - 35 kg, and calf (8 months) - 25 kg. She-wolves are 20% lighter.
The Predator is distinguished by its classic, in gray tones with an admixture of ocher, color. The Central Russian wolf lives in the forests of Central Russia, often penetrates to the west of Siberia. In the northern regions, it enters the forest-tundra.
Polar wolf
This beautiful and powerful animal inhabits the Arctic. The polar wolf is perfectly adapted to the harsh climate. From frost and piercingwinds it is protected by warm and dense wool.
This type of wolf has sharp eyesight and a wonderful sense of smell, which help in hunting the few living creatures that live in these harsh places. Insufficient amount of biological food and difficulties in obtaining food lead to the fact that the predator eats the prey completely, leaving neither the bones nor the skin of its prey.
The average weight of an animal is from 60 to 80 kg, height is up to 80 centimeters. Amazingly, this animal, in the event of an unsuccessful hunt, is able to live without food for several weeks. True, then the wolf can eat up to ten kilograms of meat at one time. Wolves living in Russia are more aggressive than North American ones. Attacks on people have been registered.
