Wolves are majestic creatures that are often misunderstood due to their evil prominence in fables and folklore.

features

Wolves can come in a wide range of colors, including black, reddish, and white, gray being the most common. They have long bushy tails, often accented with a dark color. They often have mixed color fur with facial markings. Northern wolves are usually larger than southern wolves. Females typically weigh 60 to 100 pounds, and males weigh 70 to 145 pounds. Wolves are usually 3-5 feet long and their tails are 1-2 feet long. It has the classification of a mammal and it is part of the canine family, along with coyotes, dogs, etc. Its scientific name is Canis Lupus. There are more than 30 subspecies of wolf. Sadly, wolves are endangered. These are the most popular subspecies of wolves:

• Gray wolf (Canis lupus): most common type of wolf, most other wolves are considered subspecies of this wolf.

• African golden wolf (Canis anthus): there have been debates as to whether this wolf is a subspecies of the gray wolf or the golden jackal, but it is presently considered a separate species in its own right.

• Red wolf (Canis rufus or C. l. rufus): there is some debate as to whether the red wolf is a different species or a subspecies with a mix of gray wolf and coyote DNA.

• Eastern or Algonquin wolf (Canis lycaon or C. l. lycaon): this is another debated species, with contesting claims of it being either a subspecies of the gray wolf or an independently evolved species of wolf.

• Indian plains wolf (Canis indica): although falling within the C. l. pallipes subspecies of gray wolf, the Indian plains wolf is considered to be genetically unique.

• Domestic dog (Canis familiaris or C. l. familiaris): the domestic dog is closely related to the gray wolf, but there are still gaps in the research that make it difficult to determine if it is a subspecies or separate species from the wolf. - Animalwised.com.

Recognized Subspecies Of Gray Wolves:

• Arctic wolf (C. l. arctos)

• British Columbia wolf (C. l. columbianus)

• Eurasian wolf (C. l. lupus)

• Iberian wolf (C. l. signatus)

• Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi)

• Tundra wolf (C. l. albus)

habitat

Wolves are found in North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. "They usually live in the remote wilderness, but red wolves might live in swamps, coastal prairies, and forests." says Livescience.com. Wolves are highly adaptable are found mainly throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They can live in the deserts, forests, prairies, and the tundra. Each species of wolf has its own habitat:

Gray wolves used to live in North America and Eurasia in the plains, deserts, tundras, taigas, and forests. Now there are small populations in North America, Europe and Asia. Due to human expansion the wolf population has moved to more remote or forested areas. Different subspecies of the gray wolf live in specific regions and ecosystems. "For example, theIberian wolf is distributed in forests, plains and mountainous pockets of the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal), while the British Columbia wolf is found near the coasts of western Canada and parts of Alaska. The African golden wolf, on the other hand, is better adapted to living in semi-arid savannas or in rocky areas at the edge of the desert. The Indian wolf lives on the plains of peninsular India, whereas theAlaskan tundra wolf lives along the arctic coast." says Animalwised.com. Each subspecies of the gray wolf has evolved and adapted to living in its particular habitat and region of the world. "In the Unites States gray wolves can be found in the northern Rocky Mountain states (especially Idaho, Montana and Wyoming) and occasionally in the Pacific northwest where wolves have been sighted in California, Oregon and Washington. They are also fairly common in the western Great Lakes states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. There are small numbers of the endangered Mexican wolf subspecies in Arizona and New Mexico." Animalwised.com continues.

The red wolves are critically endangered.They used to thrive in southern Texas and Pennsylvania, but now they only live in protected areas in North Carolina. Before it was reintroduced it was extinct in the wild in 1980. They might live in swamps, grasslands, and forests, all though there are not that many of them.

Eastern (or Algonquin or timber) wolves is native to the Northwestern United States and Canada. Today they are found in Quebec and Ontario, also in Algonquin Provincial Park.

Arctic wolves live in North America, Canada, and Greenland, and thrive in the low temperatures.

DIET

Wolves are primarily carnivores, usually hunting larger animals. Wolves work together to catch their prey. They usually eat mammals like deer, elk, caribous, bison, moose, beavers, rodents, and hares. Adults can consume twenty pounds of meat in a single meal. They usually prey on hoofed animals. If they're desperate, they might eat birds, lizards, snakes, even insects or earthworms! The average wolf eats 3.7 pounds of meat at a minimum.