August 13th is International Wolf Day. Wolves are the largest members of the dog family. Adaptable gray wolves are by far the most common and were once found all over the Northern Hemisphere.
As social animals, they live and hunt together as a pack ruled by a male alpha and a female alpha. Packs usualy consist of around six to ten animals. They are known to roam large distances, in a single day. These social animals cooperate on their preferred prey—large animals such as deer, elk, and moose. When they are successful, wolves do not eat in moderation. A single animal can consume 20 pounds of meat at a sitting.
Average lifespan in the wild is 6 to 8 years
Though they almost never attack humans, wolves are considered one of the animal world's most fearsome natural villains. They do attack domestic animals, and countless wolves have been shot, trapped, and poisoned because of this tendency. Wolves also eat smaller mammals, birds, fish, lizards, snakes, and fruit.
Wolves are also 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.
FACTS
Gray wolves are the planet’s most widespread large land mammals after humans and livestock.
A wolf pack is two or more wolves that have a defined territory.
Wolves can go for more than a week without eating.
Each wolf's howl is unique, like fingerprints on humans!
They almost became extinct in Europe and the United States. As human populations grew, wolves lost their preys of choices and turned to livestock. Hunters and farmers exterminated them. Conservation policies and reintroduction programs managed to bring them back in some countries like Spain, Portugal, France, Germany. Wolves are very crucial to the environment because they tend to stabilize an ecosystem by their influence as an Apex predator and therefore it is important to protect them.
Sources: lovingmyplanet.com, internationaldays.co, nationalgeographic.com
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