Gray Wolf
Wolf watching his steps in winter
© Jess Lee Photography
- Color: usually a grizzled gray, but can range in color from tan to pure white or solid black
- Height: 26 - 38 inches at the shoulder
- Length: 40 - 58 inches (excluding the tail)
- Weight: can range from 40 - 175 pounds, the males are 15% to 20% larger than females
- Home Range Size: 40 - 1500 square miles
- Life Expectancy: 10 years
Gray Wolf Listings: (add your listing)
Cooke City - Yellowstone's Hidden Treasure
Just outside the Park's northeast entrance, experience unspoiled beauty, rich in wildlife, abundant in family activities & adventure, all at affordable rates for everyone.
(406) 838-2495
In March 1995, 14 wolves from Canada were brought to Yellowstone National
Park for release. The reintroduction of wolves to the park was highly debated
for many years, but after careful planning they were released into the park.
Wolves exhibit social, hierarchial, competitive, and territorial tendencies.
They generally travel in packs with eight members or less. However, in the
summer of 1998 one pack of wolves in Yellowstone had grown to 16 members.
Each pack consists of an "alpha" or dominant pair, their most recent
offspring, and other young wolves. The social order of the pack is the alpha
pair, being the most important members, the beta wolf, the second most
important, down to the omega wolf, being the least important member of the pack.
The social order of the wolves can change due to sexual maturity, old age,
illness, or death. If one of the alpha pair dies, the beta wolf will take its
place.
Within the pack, only the alpha pair will mate, usually around 2 years of
age. Wolf litters average around six pups. However, only about half of the
litter survives, making the pups the most important priority of the pack.
Wolves are able to survive anywhere there is adequate food and human
tolerance. Wolves usually feed on elk, deer, and moose. However, in 1997 the
Crystal Creek pack was responsible for the death of a bison.
Wolves usually rest during the day and hunt in the early morning or in the
evening.
While in Yellowstone, it isn't likely to see a pack of wolves, but you may
hear them. The howl of the wolf can be frightening, but it is their main use of
communication. Wolves also yip, squeal, growl, chirp, and bark to express
themselves. The howl of a wolf can be used to:
- notify other pack members or other packs of their location
- attract potential mates
- rally the pack before a hunt
- announce the presence of an intruder
- express distress
Since the reintroduction in 1995 the wolf population has grown from 14 to 287 wolves as counted in March of 2003.
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