Four Snarling Subspecies of Canis Lupus

Have you ever seen those little beady eyes poking out from the shadows that make you feel uncomfortable? Have you ever heard howling piercing the starry night sky? Have you ever laid awake at night in your tent wondering who in the world is doing this? Well, today you’re in luck because I’m going to teach you all about those animals. Now to answer your question, the animals that you are asking about are… THE WOLF! Well, perhaps you haven’t had the opportunity to camp in the wilderness.

Now, it is probably not that common to hear a wolf in the wilderness but I have had that special opportunity in my short lifetime. My grandmother lives in Colorado, the Centennial state, near the woods. Last summer I was visiting her and in the late evening I heard a wolf howling. For a second, I was nervous that they were coming to attack us, but then I realized that they barely even knew that we were even relatively near, and that they were just living their normal life, much like we were. Some people are terrified of this animal, but I think that they are beautiful and courageous creatures. I heard long legato howls that could last for minutes, and short staccato ones as well, that lasted for only a few seconds at a time.

Let’s start with an animal that I’m sure you’re all familiar with, the cute and cuddly dog! Now, I know it’s hard to believe that dogs, the precious animals that they are, can be related to such a ferocious creature. Yup, you heard me correctly, the dog is a descendant of the wolf. What does this mean you ask? Well, this means that these two animals are thought to carry a common, extinct wolf as an ancestor. Yeah, I know, mind BLOWN.

Okay, ready to get scientific?! All right, so dogs and foxes cannot reproduce because they are different species. If it was a dog and a dog or a fox and a fox, they would be able to reproduce. Get it a tad bit? Good. Since we figured out that dogs and wolves are descendants of each other, we know that they can reproduce. Yes, they have different names, and different appearances, but these two animals can definitely reproduce together. Thank you for tuning in for the anatomy of a dog and a wolf, hosted by Roen!

The subspecies of the famous Canis Lupus, the interior Alaskan wolf, has come into the history books. First introduced in 1905 by the American zoologist Daniel Elliot, it is based off a specimen from the icy cold state of Alaska, specifically the Susitna River region, near Mount McKinley (Denali). The Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, first recognized it in 2005, exactly a century after Daniel Elliot described it.

The northwestern wolf is arguably the largest gray wolf subspecies of all our furry friends. It ranges from Alaska, the upper Makenzie River Valley (commonly known as its other name), southward throughout the western Canadian provinces, and the Northwestern United States.

The fierce and ferocious males have an average weight of 56.3 kilograms (124 lb), and for the elegant yet smaller and brave females, 38.5 kilograms (85 lb). The height of these wolves is 85 cm (33.5 in). The customary color for this particular subspecies is tawny grey or tan, but they can also vary from white to black. The lifespan of these mammals reaches from 4 to 10 years, the oldest one of the bunch being 12 years of age.

These wolves tend to have packs of 7 to 9 members, but oftentimes can vary. Like many other wolves, their pack will carry a mated pair and their offspring. What we know as a wolf pack is usually just a big family – the alpha, the momma and cubs from various litters.

That specific pair is commonly the only ones that breed for the pack. For these wolves, the minimum breeding age is 1 year, and the average number for the litter size is 4-6 pups.

They have a vast territory. About a thousand miles to the east, in the Southern Yukon Province of Canada, moose, boreal woodland caribou and Dall sheep are the main prey for these furry carnivores, while on the North Slope of Denali, barren-ground caribou is the main prey.

The Scottish naturalist Sir John Richardson first wrote about the subspecies in 1829. Commonly their names are given to then in reference by its color, however he chose to name it Canis lupus occidentalis in reference to its geographic location (occident means Western).

These wolves mainly kill calves and old moose when fleeing. The common hunting success rate for moose is 10% in a hunt, and a pack kills a moose every week or so to eat for 2-3 days. These animals need a lot of meat!

This wolf loves the woods (timber is wood, taken from forests, for building). What types of woods? Temperate broadleaf woods (which means these forests have few coniferous trees, like pines and redwoods)… but these gray beasts also like the fir trees, and guess what? These meat eaters also like snowy regions!

You know how some people are bookworms? Well, this wolf is a woodworm! These wolves could be in the woods all day and never get tired of it. If you ever asked a wolf what its perfect vacation would be, he would probably say “In the woods, trekking with my friends!”

Similar to the Northwestern wolf, the mating behavior of the Timber wolf is monogamous in nature. Only a dominant or alpha pair mates within a pack, producing a single litter of pups. The breeding season sets in early January and continues till late February. After a gestation period of exactly 63 days, the females give birth to between four and six pups in a den which is usually located in a rock crevice or in a hole dug by the wolves themselves.

These wolves are very strict with which wolves breed and which don’t. The only ones in the a pack that breed are a dominant or alpha pair mate, producing a single litter of pups. Their breeding season is in early January and goes into late February. After 63 days the females have between four in six pups in a den near them.

Hello again, my patient readers. You’re probably thinking, okay, we’ve already covered two types of wolves, this is probably the conclusion paragraph. WRONG!!! We still have a few more things to cover before I let you guys go.

Now, I’m sure you’ve all heard of Italy, but have you heard of the Italian wolf? The Italian wolf lives in, you guessed it, Italy! They are a species of the Canis Lupus as well as a subspecies of the C.I. Italicus. These mammals have a very meaty diet which consists of wild boar, chamois (a horned mountain goat), roe deer and red deer. They can eat up to 1.5 – 3 kilograms of meat a day. Humans eat between three to five pounds a day (1.1 kg-2.25kg). Now, that might not seem like that large of a difference, but keep in mind that one kilogram is equal to 2.20462 pounds. These males have an average weight of 24-40 kilograms, which is equal to 53-88 pounds. The females however, tend to be about 10% lighter. Their body length is usually 100-140 centimeters, equal to 39-55 inches. So, if the Italian wolf weighs 65 pounds and eats up to 6.8 pounds of food a day, and if a human weighs 160 pounds and eats up to 5 pounds a day, the wolf eats more food. The human would weigh more than the wolf in the end, but the wolf would eat 1.8 pound more than the human. For wolves, 13 pounds of weight per wolf requires one pound of food. However, for humans, 32 pounds of weight for humans, requires one pound of food.

 Now, let’s do the math for proportion:

Wolf X weighs 65 pounds and eats up to 6.8 lbs of food per day

Human X weighs 160 and eats up to 5 lbs a day

13 lbs of weight per wolf = one pound of food

32 lbs of weight per human = one pound of food

Okay everyone I have a very special announcement so listen up. We are officially on our last type of wolf!!! This last wolf that we are going to be covering is called the Tundra wolf. The Tundra wolf is another subspecies of our one and only grey wolf and its scientific name is Canis Lupus Albus. Their family is Canidae, like our other friend the Italian Wolf. The Tundra was first described in 1792 (wow that’s a long time ago) by Robert Kerr. Their habitat ranges from much of the high Arctic (Greenland, Alaska and Northern Canada.) Finally, their diet consists of deer, wapiti (aka American elk), moose, caribou, bison, muscle ox and mountain sheep.