Status: captivity 16.0 years Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Status: wild 13.7 years Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Status: captivity 20.0 years Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Status: wild 10.0 years Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research In captivity they may live to be fifteen years of age. Gray wolves may live thirteen years in the wild, though average lifespan is 5 to 6 years.Īs adults they usually die from old age or from injuries received while hunting or fighting with other wolves.
ARCTIC WOLF FACTS FOR KIDS FULL
The gestation period lasts between 60 and 63 days, litter size ranges from five to fourteen, with the average size being seven pups.įemale pups reach maturity at two years of age, while males will not reach full maturity until three years of age. Other dens are under cliffs, under fallen trees, and in caves. Pups are born in the den and will remain there for several weeks after birth.
The den is often dug with an entrance that slopes down and then up again to a higher area to avoid flooding. After mating occurs, the female digs a den in which to raise her young. Gray wolf pairs spend a great deal of time together. Female gray wolves choose their mates and often form a life-long pair bond. This pair is monogamous although, with the death of an alpha individual, a new alpha male or female will emerge and take over as the mate.īreeding occurs between the months of January and April, with northern populations breeding later in the season than southern populations. The dominant pair in a grey wolf pack are the only members that breed. These animals are found in the following types of habitat.
They occupy a wide variety of habitats, from arctic tundra to forest, prairie, and arid landscapes. Gray wolves are one of the most wide ranging land animals. However, due to habitat destruction, environmental change, persecution by humans, and other barriers to population growth, gray wolf populations are now found only in a few areas of the contiguous United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico (a small population), and Eurasia. Gray wolves once ranged throughout the Northern hemisphere, from the Arctic south to southern Mexico, northern Africa, and southern Asia. Gray wolves have a dense underfur layer, providing them with excellent insulation against cold conditions. Their upperparts are generally darker and they have lighter fur on their undersides, the tail is tipped with black. Their color ranges from pure white in Arctic populations, to mixtures of white with gray, brown, cinammon, and black to nearly uniform black in some color phases. Males are, on average, larger than females.įur color of gray wolves also varies depending on where they are living. Height (measured from base of paws to shoulder) generally ranges from 60 to 90 cm. Total body length, from tip of the nose to tip of the tail, is from 870 to 1,300 mm. They vary in size depending on where they are found, with southern populations being generally smaller than northern populations. Gray wolves are the largest wild dog species in the world.
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