Wolves

Tom Jackson is a leading natural history writer based in the United Kingdom. As an author and contributor he has worked on more than 60 books. A zoology graduate from the University of Bristol, he has also worked as a zookeeper and in safari parks in Zimbabwe.

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• IntroductionTHE LONE WOLF These tough dogs, the biggest of the 40 or so canine species, are still the most far- flung land carnivores on Earth, ranging from the icy fringes of the Arctic and cold northern forests to the arid shrublands of Africa and the mountains of Mexico. This chapter features stunning photographs of wolves on their own and accompanying captions give fascinating facts about their environment and how they adapt to it.WOLVES IN WINTER Today’s wolves are largely animals of the taiga, the great boreal forests that ring the Arctic zones of North America and Eurasia. Few wolf populations persist south of here, but a few do live even further north, where the conifer forests fade out into tundra, a treeless land where only the hardiest creatures survive.THE WOLF PACK Typically a pack contains about a dozen adult wolves plus a litter of the cubs, but groups have been found with more than 40 members. Like any close-knit family, a wolf pack is a fractious place. Every member takes its position in a rigorous hierarchy, with the beta dogs protecting the alphas, in the hope of succeeding them one day, all the way down to the omegas, who are bottom of the heap. Wolves with no prospect of reaching top-dog status‚ generally young adults born into overcrowded packs, are hounded out by the antisocial behaviour of their superiors.THE HUNT The world’s wolves have carved out many different ways of life that see them catching fish from rivers, snatching food from lions, pouncing on lemmings buried under snow, and bringing down moose ten times their size. The wolf kills with its teeth, but this is not its primary weapon. As well as being equipped with good night vision, sensitive hearing and an acute sense of smell, the wolf’s most deadly dimension is its stamina.WOLF CUBS Born into a litter of at least five and perhaps as many as three times that number, a wolf cub begins life in a hidden den kept warm by its mother, the alpha female. Outside, the alpha male and the rest of the pack are keeping the den safe from attack. At the age of ten weeks, all cubs will be out of the den, exploring the surroundings under the watchful gaze of their elders.