Grey wolf

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The wolf (Canis lupus) plural: wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. Gray wolves are considered to be elegant predators and highly social animals that form tight, nuclear packs. However, they are very commonly reported solo too. A symbol of the wilderness and the predecessors to the domestic dog, these majestic creatures are still plentiful in rural areas all over the world. Once the world’s most widely distributed mammal, the gray wolf’s range has been reduced by one-third. Wolves are commonly killed in revenge after they kill livestock, or in fear of attacks on humans. Gray wolves are carnivores that can prey on ungulates such as elk, deer or as big as moose, and can scavenge carrion. However, they also prey on smaller mammals such as beaver and rabbit. Grey wolves also depend on livestock and garbage as well in the countries or states they have the opportunity to. Wolf pups are born blind and deaf, and must be cared for until they mature at around ten months of age. Gray wolves travel in packs of four to seven, led by —the mother and father wolves that track, hunt and choose dens for the pups or younger subordinate wolves. Wolves often mate for life.
Wolves typically hunt within territories, ranging from 50 to 1,000 square miles. Social creatures, gray wolves have a complex communication system that involves body language, barking, growling, “dancing,” howling and scent making. Wolves are frequently mentioned in human folklore. In Roman mythology, the Wolf-Goddess Lupa finds Romulus and Remus, future founders of Rome, as infants and nurses them until a shepherd took them in. After the last wolf was killed in Yellowstone National Park in 1926, a wolf reintroduction program was implemented in 1995. The program is considered to be a great success—the wolves are reproducing at a rapid rate, and there are currently around 100 wolves in the park. This has caused controversy with many ranchers and farmers as there are livestock deaths from these wolves.
Wolves can survive in a variety of habitats, including forests, tundra, mountains, swamps and deserts, along with garbage dumps and alongside villages and urban neighborhoods. Territory size is typically based on the density of prey but is also influenced by pack size, presence of neighboring packs, and human land use. Wolves will aggressively defend their territories from other packs.
(Bolushi)