We’ve searched high and low for this list of the top thirty most interesting facts about the dog family’s largest members, wolves.
If you love these animals, you love these 30 interesting facts!
Wolves are the largest members of the dog family.
‘Canis Lupis‘ is Latin for Gray Wolf, which is the most common.
It is believed that the Red Wolf (also known in Latin as ‘Canis Rufus‘) is to be a cross-breed of Gray Wolf and coyote.
The ‘Canis Simensis‘ (Ethiopian Wolf) lives in Africa.
The domestic dog (known in Latin as ‘Canis Familiaris‘) shares many wolf traits.
Many species have become extinct, while many remain in a vulnerable state.
In Eastern Europe and the USA, wolves are being reintroduced into the wild and into research parks.
Wolves live in packs of up to 20.
A single wolf can be up to 5ft in length, standing at 3ft.
One of the heaviest wolves on record weighed 130lbs.
A female wolf can have up to six pups.
Wolves generally prefer larger prey such as deer but will settle for something smaller, such as rabbits.
Wolves are estimated to live up to 13 years old.
The strongest male and female pairing lead the pack and are known as alphas.
Pack alphas are the only couple to mate.
Female wolves live in underground dens for the spring to birth and feed their blind and deaf pups.
The entire pack is expected to assist in childbearing.
A wolf’s howl is a method of communication that is the loudest when in harmony with others. A single wolf howl can be heard up to 6 miles (10 km).
A wolf’s hearing is twenty times better than a human’s.
Their long muzzle ends with a hyper-sensitive nose, which is one hundred times better than a human’s.
Their thick fur helps them survive the bitter climates.
Wolves hunt in packs by stalking and attacking old, sick, or weak animals.
A wolf can eat up to 9kg on one meal alone. This includes the bones, fur, and meat.
A single wolf can travel up to 124 miles (200 km) in 24 hours.
In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus were raised by wolves.
The fearsome werewolf legend has roots in ancient Greece, where after being insulted, Zeus turned King Lycaon of Arcadia into a wolf.
Some people believe that they suffer from lycanthropy – the belief that they can turn into wolves.
In Amerindian cultures, the wolf is seen as a pathfinder and a great teacher.
In Norse mythology, however, the most feared and hated wolf was Fenrir, the eldest child of Loki. It was foretold that Fenrir would kill Odin, and so he was bound by the Gods.
Wolves feature heavily in much pop-culture, such as:
a. Fairy tales (the Big Bad Wolf)
b. Fantasy fiction (The Sight by David Clement-Davies)
c. Fiction (White Fang by Jack London)
d. Film (Alpha and Omega)
e. Games (Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII has a silver wolf motif)
f. Manga (in Bleach, Sajin Komamura has the head of a wolf)
g. Music (metal band Metallica have a song ‘Of Wolf and Man,’ which features werewolf related lyrics)
h. Television (in Game of Thrones, Dire Wolves are the sigil of House Stark).
So now we know that wolves are actually the largest members of the dog family. Wolves share a lot of similar traits to domesticated dogs.
Wolves are capable of surviving bitter climates with their thick fur, they can hear 20 times better than humans and travel up to 124 miles (200 km) in a single day!
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