Gray Wolf
hideThe grey wolf or gray wolf (Canis lupus), also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago. DNA sequencing and genetic drift studies reaffirm that the gray wolf shares a common ancestry with the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris). Although certain aspects of this conclusion have been questioned, including recently, the main body of evidence confirms it. A number of other gray wolf subspecies have been identified, though the actual number of subspecies is still open to discussion. Gray wolves are typically apex predators in the ecosystems they occupy. Though not as adaptable as more generalist canid species, wolves have thrived in temperate forests, deserts, mountains, tundra, taiga, grasslands, and even urban areas.
Though once abundant over much of Eurasia and North America, the gray wolf inhabits a very small portion of its former range because of widespread destruction of its territory, human encroachment of its habitat, and the resulting human-wolf encounters that sparked broad extirpation. Even so, the gray wolf is regarded as being of least concern for extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, when the entire gray wolf population is considered as a whole. Today, wolves are protected in some areas, hunted for sport in others, or may be subject to extermination as perceived threats to livestock and pets.
In areas where human cultures and wolves are sympatric, wolves frequently feature in the folklore and mythology of those cultures, both positively and negatively.
For more information about Gray Wolf, read the full article at
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News tagged with wolves
New clues to the Falklands wolf mystery
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Ever since the Falklands wolf was described by Darwin himself, the origin of this now-extinct canid found only on the Falkland Islands far off the east coast of Argentina has remained a mystery. Now, researchers ...
Wolf hunt is on in Idaho -- for now (Update)
Sep 01, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The first public wolf hunt in decades in the lower 48 states is off to a slow start.
Cradle and birthday of dog identified
Sep 01, 2009 |
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Previous studies in the field have indicated that East Asia is where the wolf was tamed and became the dog. It was not possible to be more precise than that. But now researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology ...
World's first cloned wolf dies: researcher
Sep 01, 2009 |
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One of the world's first two cloned wolves has died from an apparent infection, a professor who produced the clones almost four years ago said Tuesday.
Wolf hunts to open, judge eyes injunction request
Aug 31, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Gray wolf hunting was set to begin in the Northern Rockies, even as a federal judge eyed a request to stop the killing of the predators just four months after they were removed from the endangered species list.
Appetite spells three wolves' doom in Switzerland
Aug 28, 2009 |
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It is unclear if the three wolves were too greedy or simply hungry, but what is certain is that by killing more sheep than they should, they have violated Swiss law.
Groups try to block Idaho, Montana wolf hunts
Aug 21, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Conservation groups are asking a federal judge in Missoula to block fall wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana.
S. Korean firm to open major dog cloning centre
Aug 14, 2009 |
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A South Korean biotechnology firm will early next year open a centre capable eventually of producing up to 1,000 cloned dogs annually, a company executive said Friday.
Wolf release in Mexico sparks concern in US
Aug 13, 2009 |
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(AP) -- American wildlife officials and ranchers are raising questions over a plan to release a rare North American gray wolf to its historic range in northern Mexico: Will it stay south of the border and ...
Wolf reintroduction proposed in Scottish Highland test case
Jul 20, 2009 |
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Researchers are proposing in a new report that a major experiment be conducted to reintroduce wolves to a test site in the Scottish Highlands, to help control the populations and behavior of red deer that ...
Greater Yellowstone elk suffer worse nutrition and lower birth rates due to wolves
Jul 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Wolves have caused elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to change their behavior and foraging habits so much so that herds are having fewer calves, mainly due to changes in their nutrition, ...
Lawsuits over wolf hunting filed in Mont., Wyo.
Jun 02, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A pair of federal judges will decide which states in the Northern Rockies have enough gray wolves to allow public hunting, as the bitter debate over the region's wolves heads to courts in Wyoming and Montana.
Do zoo programs help save endangered species?
Apr 13, 2009 |
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Do zoos have serious programs to save endangered species, besides putting a few captives on display for everyone to see? (Kelly Traw, Seattle)
Inbreeding taking toll on Michigan wolves
Apr 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The two dozen or so gray wolves that wander an island chain in northwestern Lake Superior are suffering from backbone malformations caused by genetic inbreeding, posing yet another challenge to their ...
Judge sides with environmentalists in wolf case
Apr 03, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A federal judge says a lawsuit by environmental groups to keep the government from aggressively removing endangered Mexican gray wolves that have attacked livestock can move forward.
