Endangered Animal
By Rolando Valles
Timber wolf
Scientific name:Canis Rufus
Population:7,700 to 11,200
Appearance
- Physical features: a timber wolf kills Deer and runs fast and it eats more animals than that but I think that no animal can eat a animal.
- Adaptations environment: it has sharp teeth and sharp claws
Habitat
Wolves can thrive in a diversity of habitats from the tundra to woodlands, forests, grasslands and deserts. Today, gray wolves have populations in Alaska, northern Michigan, northern Wisconsin, western Montana, northern Idaho, northeast Oregon and the Yellowstone area of Wyoming.
Diet
Diet. Wolves eat ungulates, or large hoofed mammals, like elk, deer, moose and caribou, as well as beaver, rabbits and other small prey. Wolves are also scavengers and often eat animals that have died due to other causes.
Offspring/Baby Fatcts
10 Fun Facts
- Wolves are the largest members of the dog family.
- The grey wolf is known as the timber wolf in North America and the white wolf in the Arctic or generally as the common wolf.
- Wolves are legendary because of their spine-tingling howl, which they use to communicate. A lone wolf howls to attract the attention of his pack, while communal howls may send territorial messages from one pack to another. Some howls are confrontational. Calls may be answered by rival packs. Much like barking domestic dogs, wolves may simply begin howling because a nearby wolf has already begun.
- There are many subspecies of wolf including the Arctic wolf, all of which use a variety of howls to communicate to one another.
- They have a highly organised social structure enabling it to enjoy maximum cooperation when hunting, communicating and defending territory.
- Wolves live and hunt in packs. They are known to roam large distances, perhaps 20 km in a single day. Wolf packs in the far north often travel hundreds of km each year and this is due to them following migrating herds.
- Wolves are highly territorial animals, and generally establish territories far larger than they require to survive; in order to assure a steady supply of prey. Territory size depends largely on the amount of prey available: in areas with an abundance of prey, the territories of resident wolf packs are smaller.
- These social animals cooperate on their preferred prey. A single wolf is capable of catching and killing a deer unaided but when hunting as a pack it preys on much larger animals such as deer, elk, and moose. Wolves also eat smaller mammals, birds, fish, lizards, snakes, and fruit.
- When they are successful, wolves do not eat in moderation. A single animal can consume 9 kg of meat at a sitting. The highest ranking wolf will eat first and what cannot be consumed is left for the scavengers, even although the wolf may have to wait another three days for its next meal.
- Wolves are not particularly fast, with a top speed of about 45km/h. They instead rely on its hearing and sense of smell to detect prey. They have remarkable powers of endurance and are known to follow their target all day and night if necessary.
- Once a wolf has found a mate, they usually stay together for life.
- Wolf packs are established according to a strict hierarchy, with a dominant alpha male at the top and alpha female not far behind. Usually this male and female are the only animals of the pack to breed. Packs consist of between five and ten animals – usually offspring from several years. All of a pack's adults help to care for young pups by bringing them food and watching them while others hunt.
- The hierarchy that exists within each pack is maintained by dominant or submissive body posturing, and by other behaviour patterns such as the communal care of the young.