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KINGDOM: Animalia PHYLUM: Chordata CLASS: Mammalia ORDER: Carnivora FAMILY: Canidae (dog family) GENUS: Canis (Latin word meaning "dog") SPECIES: lupus (Greek word meaning "wolf") COMMON NAMES: gray wolf, timber wolf NAMES IN OTHER LANGUAGES: Spanish: Lobo, French: Loup, Italian: Lupo, Swedish: Varg, Norwegian: Ulv GROUP OF WOLVES: pack/ family (one of few eusocial species) AVERAGE LIFE SPAN (YNP): 4-5 years AVERAGE LIFE SPAN (OUTSIDE YNP): estimated 2-3 years OLDEST WOLF KNOWN IN YNP: 12.5 years - 478F of the Cougar Creek pack OLDEST WOLF KNOWN IN THE ROCKIES: B2 released in Idaho at estimated 4 years of age;died at age 13.8 of unknown causes CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN ADULTS (YNP): natural causes 77% (intraspecific 42%, natural unknown 15%, interspecific 8%, malnutrition 5%, other 4%, disease 3%); human causes 17% (harvest 7%, vehicle 6%, illegal 2%, control 1%, other 1%); unknown causes 6% CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN ADULTS (GYE): human causes 77%;natural causes 23% PROPORTION OF POPULATION >5 YEARS OLD: 18% SEX RATIO: 50:50 PELAGE: gray or black (ratio 50:50), rarely white BLACK COAT COLOR: caused by K-locus gene thought to have originated from historic hybridization with domestic dogs 500-14,000 years ago LOCOMOTION: tetrapedal, digitigrade AVERAGE RATE OF SPEED: 5mph TOP SPEED: 35mph AVERAGE BODY MASS: males- 110 lbs (50 kg); females-90 lbs (41 kg) HEAVIEST KNOWN WOLF IN YNP: 148 lbs (wolf 760M of Yellowstone Delta pack with no food in stomach) HEIGHT AT SHOULDER: males-81 cm average, females-77 cm average LENGTH: 181 cm average BODY TEMPERATURE: 100-102.5 F (37.3-39.1 C) RESPIRATION: 10-30 breathes per minute HEART RATE: 70-120 beats per minute EYES: blue at birth, light yellow to gold to brown as an adult NUMBER OF BONES: 319 males, 318 females NUMBER OF TEETH: 42 SMELL: excellent, although unmeasured. Estimated to be thousands of times better than humans VISION: excellent night vision; no red or green cones, but have blue and yellow cones HEARING: little is known, but probably similar to dogs (relatively normal hearing abilities compared to other mammals) DENTAL FORMULAE: incisors 3 top/3 bottom, canines 1/1, premolars 4/4, molars 3/2 (on each side) FEEDING HABITS: generalist carnivore; scavenges when possible and has been known to eat small amounts of vegetation PRIMARILY FEED ON (YNP): Winter: elk (>96%), bison (3-4% and increasing in recent years; deer (1.5%); Spring: elk (89%), bison (7%), deer (7.1%); Summer: elk (85%), bison (14.1%), deer (<1%) ELK KILLED PER MONTH PER WOLF: 1.83 elk/wolf/month during winter ELK KILLED PER YEAR PER WOLF: 18-22 elk/wolf/year (all age classes, including neonate calves) KILOGRAM PER WOLF PER DAY NEEDED FOR SURVIVAL: 3.25 kg/wolf/day; can eat 15-20% of body weight in one sitting CURRENT YNP POPULATION: 99 in 10 packs CURRENT GREATER YELLOWSTONE POPULATION: 510 CURRENT NORTHERN ROCKIES POPULATION: 1,782 CURRENT NORTH AMERICAN POPULATION: 67,100-74,100 (53,600-57,600 of these in Canada) AVERAGE HOME RANGE SIZE IN YNP (NORTHERN RANGE): 274 km2 (range=58-1,151 km2) AVERAGE HOME RANGE SIZE IN YNP (INTERIOR): 620 km2 (range=105-1675 km2) AVERAGE HOME RANGE SIZE IN YNP (PARKWIDE): 428 km2 AVERAGE PACK SIZE (YNP): 9.8 PERCENT OF POPULATION THAT ARE LONE WOLVES (YNP): 2-5% PERCENT OF POPULATION THAT ARE LONE WOLVES (NORTH AMERICA): 10-15% HIBERNATORS?: No, active all year MATING SYSTEM: usually monogamous, but about 25% of packs have multiple breeding pairs under polygymous matings PERIOD OF COURTSHIP: mid-February GESTATION: 63 days BIRTH PERIOD: mid-April BIRTH LOCATION: den TYPICAL DEN TYPES: excavated under large roots, boulders, hillsides, caves with a tunnel leading to an enlarged chamber; several entrances and chambers may be present DEN EMERGENCE: 10-14 days AVERAGE LITTER SIZE (YNP): 4.4 at den emergence, 3.2 survive until late December MAXIMUM LITTER SIZE RECORDED (YNP): 11 SPLIT LITTERS?: multiple fathers per litter have not been detected in wild gray wolves WEANING: 5-9 weeks from milk, then brought food (regurgitation) for another 3 months MILK CONTENT: 6.6% fat; 144 kCal per 100 grams RENDEZVOUS SITES: used as wolf pups get older as a central homesite; time spent there and number of homesites varies widely between packs AVERAGE FEMALE AGE AT FIRST LITTER (YNP): 2.7 ONSET OF FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SENESCENCE: 4-5 years INTERBIRTH INTERVAL: can be every year EYES OPEN: 12-14 days WOLVES SEEN IN YNP: 3,573 consecutive days (February 2001-November 2010) BITE PRESSURE: 1,200 psi DISPERSAL: both sexes, YNP average age 2 years, 1 month; range 1-4 years HOWLING FUNCTION: many uses, including intrapack communication, advertising territory, coordinating social activities DISTANCE HOWLING CAN BE HEARD: forest=11km (6.6 mi), open areas=16 km (9.6 mi) LONGEST TERM PACK: Crystal Creek/Mollie's, 1995-present LONGEST TIME AS ALPHA MALE: 8 years; 712M, currently alpha male of the Canyon pack LONGEST TIME AS ALPHA FEMALE: 8 years; uncollared white alpha female of the Canyon Pack LARGEST PACK RECORDED IN YNP: Druid Peak, 37 wolves (2001); may be the largest ever recorded (42 wolves seen together in Wood Buffalo National Park (1974) but unknown if they were a single pack) MOST PUPS BORN TO A SINGLE PACK IN YNP: Leopold pack, 25 pups, at least 4 litters (2008) Bibliography Anderson, T. M., B. M. vonHoldt, S. I. Candille, M. Musiani, C. Greco, D. R. Stahler, D. W. Smith, b. Padhukasahasram, E. Randi, J. A. Leonard, C. D. Bustamante, E. A. Ostrander, H. Tang, R. K. Wayne, and G. S. Barsh. 2009. Molecular and evolutionary history of melanism in north american gray wolves. Science 323:1339-1343. Mech, L.D. 1970. The wolf. The Natural History Press, Garden City, New York, USA Mech, D. and L. Boitani. 2003. Wolves: behavior, ecology, and conservation. First edition. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Metz, M.C., D.W. Smith, J.A. Vucetich, D. R. Stahler, and R.O. Peterson. 2012. Seasonal patterns of predation for gray wolves in the multi-prey system of Yellowstone National Park. Journal of Animal Ecology 81:553- 563. Smith, D.W., E.E. Bangs, J.K. Oakleaf, C. Mack, J. Fontaine, D. Boyd, M. Jimenez, D. H. Pletscher, C.C. Niemeyer, T.J. Meier, D. R. Stahler, J. Holyan, V.J. Asher, and D.L. Murray. 2010. Survival of colonizing wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, 1982–2004. Journal of Wildlife Management 74:620-634. Stahler, D.R., D.R. MacNulty, R.K. Wayne, B. vonHoldt, and D.W. Smith. 2013. The adaptive value of morphological, behavioural and life-history traits in reproductive female wolves. Journal of Animal Ecology 82:222- 234. Theberge, J.B. and J.B. Falls. 1967. Howling as a means of communication in timber wolves. American Zoologist 7:331-338. 
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Last updated: September 1, 2022