NameLess_Cult (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} nameless_cult) wrote,@ 2006-11-13 10:19:00 |
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project
# 5 Life Cycle
Wolves have an average life span of 7-10 years in the wild. They reach sexual maturity at age two. The wolf lives in a pack that has anywhere form 3-40 members, depending on the availability of prey. A wolf pack contains a male and female, which are designated alpha, all their offspring, and sometimes the alpha pair's brothers or sisters can comprise the pack. There is a strict dominance hierarchy system in the pack, which exists so that the strongest wolves survive. Only the alpha pair breed. Mating season is usually in the early spring from January to March, but is later the further north they live. After the gestation period of 63 days, the mother wolf gives birth to three to 14 cubs, usually in a den dug before birth. The cubs weigh no more than a pound (450 grams). They are born with their eyes and ears closed, and are totally helpless. When they open their eyes, usually eleven to fifteen days after birth, their eyes are a bright blue, and gradually change to amber or green over the course of three months. The mother stays close to the young for about 2 months. She feeds them primarily by milk for the first four weeks. Other females in the pack go through what is known as a pseudo-pregnancy, where they lactate (produce milk), and go through what appears to be a pregnancy, but don't produce any pups. This is helpful because these other females help to nurse the alpha female's cubs, and in the event of her death, one will take over as mother, and nurse all the cubs. They start getting their first set of teeth in the third week. By four weeks, the pups have begun to leave the den, and are fed regurgitated meat by the adults. The mother often moves her cubs to an area called a rendezvous site, where the cubs are safe and can interact with other members of the pack. When the mother is off hunting, a baby-sitter is left in charge of the cubs. This can be an aunt, uncle, or older brother or sister.
Young wolf pups constantly have dominance "battles" to establish a hierarchy among themselves early on. The ranks established are not permanent, and their place in the pack will change many times before maturity. Often, what is determined by these battles is who will feed first and where (the back nipples have the most milk, so they will fight for rites for those nipples), and for warmth and mother's attention. By eight weeks, the pups are fully weaned and start to eat regurgitated meat. It is also at this time that the young wolves get their first try at hunting. By the time they are 6 months old, they get in their adult teeth, and can hunt for themselves. Approximately 50% of the pups do not survive their first year due to injury, disease, and starvation.
#6 Evolution
All the world's mammals that exist today evolved from small insectivorous rat-like animals that began to evolve during the Cretaceous period. At the end of the age of dinosaurs, some 65 million years ago, these animals now had the opportunity to evolve and become more specialized. The order Carnivora began to emerge approximately 60 million years ago, during the Paleocene period. The primitive carnivores that made up this group were called miacids. This common ancestor gave rise to all dogs, bears, seals, cats, hyenas, weasels, and civets. About 48 million years ago, the suborders of Feliforma and Caniforma arose from the miacids.
Canids originated in the late Eocene more than 40 million years ago. They are the most ancient group of carnivores, and the first to evolve from the miacids. The family Canidae had three major co-existing radiations, represented by the subfamilies of Caninae (modern dogs), Hesperocyoninae (ancient canids), and Borophaginae (hyena-like canines).
The subfamily Hesperocyoninae was an archaic group of canids that originated and remained in North America. They existed about 40 million years ago, and looked like a cross between a fox and a weasel. They became extinct about 15 million years ago. From the Nothocyon line of the Hesperocyonids came Tomarctus, which gave rise to the Borophaginae.
The second group, the Borophaginae, existed about 34 million years ago. Like Hesperocyoinae, they existed solely in North America. They were much larger than the Hesperocyonids, loooking like a cross between hyenas and dogs. They had very large, powerful jaws. They became extinct about 2.5 million years ago.
The last group, Caninae, is the subfamily that gave rise to all the canids alive today. They existed at about the same time as the other two subfamilies, but did not flourish until about 15 million years ago, when the other two subfamilies began to wane. This group evolved solely in North America until the late Miocene (about 7 million years ago), when they crossed the land bridge into Asia.
The canids that crossed the land bridge became the direct ancestors for the canids that existed there. These animals continued to cross over the land bridge, back and forth between the two continents. This is why there are grey wolves in both Eurasia and North America.
There was a species of wolf that lived 400 thousand years ago called the Dire Wolf (Canis dirus). It was larger than today's wolves, and it coexisted with them. It became extinct 10,000 years ago. It had a completely different body structure than a modern wolf; it was more stocky, had shorter thinner legs, and resembled a hyena. It had an immense jaw structure, that would enable it to crush through bone. It may have filled a similar niche as the hyena, as a bone crushing scavenger rather than a hunter, because of its immense size and dimensions. They probably weren't too intelligent either. There have been more dire wolf carcasses found in the La Brea tar pits in California than any other animal: 3,600 dire wolves, to be exact.
#7 Adaptations
Wolf paws are able to traverse easily through a wide variety of terrains, especially snow. There is a slight webbing between each toe, which allows wolves to move over snow more easily than comparatively hampered prey. Wolves are digitigrade, so the relative largeness of their feet helps to better distribute their weight on snowy surfaces. The front paws are larger than the hind paws, and feature a fifth digit, a dewclaw, that is absent on hind paws. Bristled hairs and blunt claws enhance grip on slippery surfaces, and special blood vessels keep paw pads from freezing.[10] Furthermore, scent glands located between a wolf's toes leave trace chemical markers behind, thereby helping the wolf to effectively navigate over large expanses while concurrently keeping others informed of its whereabouts.[10]
A wolf sometimes seems more massive than it actually is due to its bulky coat, which is made of two layers. The first layer consists of tough guard hairs designed to repel water and dirt. The second is a dense, water-resistant undercoat that insulates. Wolves have distinct winter and summer pelages that alternate in spring and autumn. Females tend to keep their winter coats further into the spring than males.
Coloration varies greatly, and runs from gray to gray-brown, all the way through the canine spectrum of white, red, brown, and black. These colors tend to mix in many populations to form predominantly blended individuals, though it is certainly not uncommon for an individual or an entire population to be entirely one color (usually all black or all white). A multicolor coat characteristically lacks any clear pattern other than it tends to be lighter on the animal's underside. Fur color sometimes corresponds with a given wolf population's environment; for example, all-white wolves are much more common in areas with perennial snow cover. Aging wolves acquire a grayish tint in their coats.
#8 habitat and range
Historically, wolves had the largest and most extensive range of all mammals, second only to humans. However, they have been extirpated from much of their former range, especially in the contiguous United States and much of western Europe.
Their former range in North America included Canada, the United States (except Hawaii), and Mexico in North America. Today, however, their range is limited to Canada, Alaska, and the northern states in the United States such as Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Washington state, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and a few other states. Many of the populations in the Lower 48 are fragmented and highly unstable, and many are wolves who have migrated from Canada. The most stable populations are in Alaska and Canada (except for the Canadian province of Newfoundland, where they became extinct in 1911). The Mexican subspecies that once ranged throughout the southwestern United States and Mexico is extinct in the wild. Captive breeding programs have reintroduced several small populations in thw wild.
Their former range in Eurasia included most countries in Europe, most of northern Russia, parts of the Middle East, India, and Nepal. They are nearly extinct throughout most of western Europe, with very few stable populations still alive in Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Greece and Turkey. The grey wolf was heavily persecuted in Europe up until the most recent years. The wolf became extinct in England in 1486, Scotland in 1743, and Ireland in 1770. There are very few wolves left in Scandinavia, the only known populations there are in Finland. The Indian wolf is very rare, and the genetics of the remaining animals is questionable due to interbreeding with feral dogs. There is an effort to reintroduce wolves to parts of their former range throughout the United States and in parts of Europe.
They inhabit a wide variety of habitats throughout their range, including grasslands, tundra, coniferous and deciduous forests, swamps, and deserts.
#9 nutrient cycle
the gray wolf is born then it dies it's decompsed body feeds the sol nutrients the smaller prey eats the grass then the wolf eats the smaller prey then histopry repeats it self once agian so on and so on
#10 role in ecosystem
As top predators, gray wolves are important in regulating populations of their prey animals.
#11 human impact
With the reintroduction of Canis lupus to Yellowstone National Park many people have begun to rethink how they feel about wolves.
Thousands of years ago, we invited wolves into our caves as hunting partner and protectors. An ancient bond was formed between humans and wolves that ultimately resulted in the domesticated canine. The dog became "man's best friend", but the wolf became the most persecuted and misunderstood animal in the world.
Over centuries Europeans' hatred of wolves grew as farms and livestock grazing lands replaced forests, squeezing the wolf's natural habitat. When Europeans came to the Americas, they brought their legends, myths, and fear of wolves with them. But the attitudes of the native peoples of North America toward wolves was vastly different; they were seen as thinking, reasoning fellow beings that possess souls. Like them, the wolf is a hunter, and lives in a pack much like a tribe. Native people call the wolf "brother" and treat it with respect and honor.
Historically, the fur of grey wolves was used for warmth. As top predators in many ecosystems, wolves are important in controlling populations of their prey.
Wolves are important in our culture, many people believe they symbolize the spirit of wilderness. Wolf products, including posters, books, and t-shirts are very popular. Wolf ecotourism is a major source of revenue for parks and reserves.
#12 status
There are three species of wolves in the world. The red wolf, Canis rufus, inhabits the southeastern United States, and the newly recognized Abyssinian wolf, Canis simensis, inhabits the highlands of Ethiopia, and until recently was considered a jackal.The gray wolf, Canis lupus, is the most common and inhabits most of the northern hemisphere; there are five subspecies of gray wolves in North America, and seven to 12 subspecies in Eurasia.
In an effort to assess the status of wolves around the world, the International Wolf Center periodically examines published information and consults experts who have knowledge or can make informed guesses about populations of wolves in each country. In 1998 we obtained population information from 41 countries and estimated a minimum world-wide wolf population of approximately 150,000 in 37 countries. Several other countries with wolves did not report, however, so this assessment should be considered a minimum. About 83 percent of the countries indicated that wolf numbers were stable or increasing, while 17 percent suggested they were decreasing. Of the 31 countries that reported legal status, 77 percent had some protection, while 23 percent listed wolves as unprotected. Protections varied from total legal protection to trapping and hunting with minimal restrictions. Four countries reported having no restrictions. Although illegal killing and high harvest are concerns in many areas, mo st experts agree that habitat destruction caused by increased agriculture, road construction, urban sprawl and the growth of rural communities is the greatest threat to gray wolves across the world.
Ethiopia's Abyssinian wolf population is estimated at about 550 wolves. This wolf is unique in that it preys primarily on rodents and seldom weighs more than 40 pounds. Most of the remaining Abyssinian wolves live in southern Ethiopia's Bale National Park, the largest alpine habitat on the African continent. Overgrazing, habitat loss, hybridization with domestic dogs and disease spread by domestic dogs are the primary threats to Abyssinian wolf survival.
The rarest wolf, the red wolf, was thought to be completely extinct in the wild. An aggressive captive breeding program has provided a second chance for the red wolf, which was successfully reintroduced to historic range in the southeastern United States in the 1980s. Between 75 and 80 red wolves now live in the wild, but they are restricted to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas on the coast of North Carolina. Lack of wild lands hamper further reintroduction efforts, and hybridization with coyotes threatens to swamp the genetic purity of this rare wolf. Interestingly, some biologists suggest the red wolf and the eastern subspecies of the gray wolf may be the same species. If so, the red wolf population now inhabiting the Southeast may be a remnant of a larger population from southeastern Canada. Nevertheless, both populations suffer from habitat loss and hybridization with coyotes. North Carolina's small population represents a unique opportunity to res tore this wolf to some of its historic range.
#13 conservation
In recent decades, humans have realized their mistakes. Efforts have been made to help restore wolves to their once vast habitats. One such effort was the restoration of a group of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in late 1994. Thirty wolves were captured in Alberta, Canada over a three year period, and were anesthetized. They had blood taken, their weight and height taken, and their teeth measured to determine age. Then they were transported to Idaho and then to Yellowstone. Of the wolves that were released, not many made it. Many were killed or died from disease. However, it was seen as a great success. That is until Judge William Downes, the same judge that allowed the wolves to enter the park in the first place, ruled against the wolves, saying that the released wolves fell on top of an existing wolf pack, and the wolves that they released and all of their offspring have to be moved. Unfortunately, no zoo will take wolves, and they cannot release them back in Canada, so the only choice is that the wolves be killed. So much work went into introducing wolves into a part of their former range that they had been completely exterminated from 60 years ago, and now it happens all over again.
However, efforts are being made to reintroduce wolves to other areas of their former range, such as in the Adirondack National Park in New York. The Wolf Trust in Britain is working to reintroduce wolves to their former habitat in Britain and Scotland, where wolves have been extinct for 300 years. The Southern Rockies Wolf Restoration Project is trying to reintroduce wolves in the southern Rocky Mountains region, where they have been missing for probably over a hundred years.
The grey wolf (Canis lupus lupus) is very common in Greece, where it lives in the mountainous regions, mostly in the northern Greece mainland. A pack has recently been reintroduced to Mount Parnis National Park, which is about an hour's drive from Athens, the capital of Greece. (Greek wolf information provided by: Michael - Odysseus Yakoumakis.)
In addition, wolves are protected in some areas of their range. In the United States, the grey wolf is listed as Threatened by the USDI's Fish and Wildlife Service. The IUCN lists wolves as Least Concern, except for the Italian population, which it lists as Vulnerable. The grey wolf is listed in CITES Appendix II for all populations and subspecies, except in the countries of Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, where the grey wolf is listed in Appendix I.
However, many countries, especially in Eurasia, still consider the wolf a pest species, and actively are trying to exterminate it. Legal protection does not exist, even in countries where wolves are almost extinct.
# 5 Life Cycle
Wolves have an average life span of 7-10 years in the wild. They reach sexual maturity at age two. The wolf lives in a pack that has anywhere form 3-40 members, depending on the availability of prey. A wolf pack contains a male and female, which are designated alpha, all their offspring, and sometimes the alpha pair's brothers or sisters can comprise the pack. There is a strict dominance hierarchy system in the pack, which exists so that the strongest wolves survive. Only the alpha pair breed. Mating season is usually in the early spring from January to March, but is later the further north they live. After the gestation period of 63 days, the mother wolf gives birth to three to 14 cubs, usually in a den dug before birth. The cubs weigh no more than a pound (450 grams). They are born with their eyes and ears closed, and are totally helpless. When they open their eyes, usually eleven to fifteen days after birth, their eyes are a bright blue, and gradually change to amber or green over the course of three months. The mother stays close to the young for about 2 months. She feeds them primarily by milk for the first four weeks. Other females in the pack go through what is known as a pseudo-pregnancy, where they lactate (produce milk), and go through what appears to be a pregnancy, but don't produce any pups. This is helpful because these other females help to nurse the alpha female's cubs, and in the event of her death, one will take over as mother, and nurse all the cubs. They start getting their first set of teeth in the third week. By four weeks, the pups have begun to leave the den, and are fed regurgitated meat by the adults. The mother often moves her cubs to an area called a rendezvous site, where the cubs are safe and can interact with other members of the pack. When the mother is off hunting, a baby-sitter is left in charge of the cubs. This can be an aunt, uncle, or older brother or sister.
Young wolf pups constantly have dominance "battles" to establish a hierarchy among themselves early on. The ranks established are not permanent, and their place in the pack will change many times before maturity. Often, what is determined by these battles is who will feed first and where (the back nipples have the most milk, so they will fight for rites for those nipples), and for warmth and mother's attention. By eight weeks, the pups are fully weaned and start to eat regurgitated meat. It is also at this time that the young wolves get their first try at hunting. By the time they are 6 months old, they get in their adult teeth, and can hunt for themselves. Approximately 50% of the pups do not survive their first year due to injury, disease, and starvation.
#6 Evolution
All the world's mammals that exist today evolved from small insectivorous rat-like animals that began to evolve during the Cretaceous period. At the end of the age of dinosaurs, some 65 million years ago, these animals now had the opportunity to evolve and become more specialized. The order Carnivora began to emerge approximately 60 million years ago, during the Paleocene period. The primitive carnivores that made up this group were called miacids. This common ancestor gave rise to all dogs, bears, seals, cats, hyenas, weasels, and civets. About 48 million years ago, the suborders of Feliforma and Caniforma arose from the miacids.
Canids originated in the late Eocene more than 40 million years ago. They are the most ancient group of carnivores, and the first to evolve from the miacids. The family Canidae had three major co-existing radiations, represented by the subfamilies of Caninae (modern dogs), Hesperocyoninae (ancient canids), and Borophaginae (hyena-like canines).
The subfamily Hesperocyoninae was an archaic group of canids that originated and remained in North America. They existed about 40 million years ago, and looked like a cross between a fox and a weasel. They became extinct about 15 million years ago. From the Nothocyon line of the Hesperocyonids came Tomarctus, which gave rise to the Borophaginae.
The second group, the Borophaginae, existed about 34 million years ago. Like Hesperocyoinae, they existed solely in North America. They were much larger than the Hesperocyonids, loooking like a cross between hyenas and dogs. They had very large, powerful jaws. They became extinct about 2.5 million years ago.
The last group, Caninae, is the subfamily that gave rise to all the canids alive today. They existed at about the same time as the other two subfamilies, but did not flourish until about 15 million years ago, when the other two subfamilies began to wane. This group evolved solely in North America until the late Miocene (about 7 million years ago), when they crossed the land bridge into Asia.
The canids that crossed the land bridge became the direct ancestors for the canids that existed there. These animals continued to cross over the land bridge, back and forth between the two continents. This is why there are grey wolves in both Eurasia and North America.
There was a species of wolf that lived 400 thousand years ago called the Dire Wolf (Canis dirus). It was larger than today's wolves, and it coexisted with them. It became extinct 10,000 years ago. It had a completely different body structure than a modern wolf; it was more stocky, had shorter thinner legs, and resembled a hyena. It had an immense jaw structure, that would enable it to crush through bone. It may have filled a similar niche as the hyena, as a bone crushing scavenger rather than a hunter, because of its immense size and dimensions. They probably weren't too intelligent either. There have been more dire wolf carcasses found in the La Brea tar pits in California than any other animal: 3,600 dire wolves, to be exact.
#7 Adaptations
Wolf paws are able to traverse easily through a wide variety of terrains, especially snow. There is a slight webbing between each toe, which allows wolves to move over snow more easily than comparatively hampered prey. Wolves are digitigrade, so the relative largeness of their feet helps to better distribute their weight on snowy surfaces. The front paws are larger than the hind paws, and feature a fifth digit, a dewclaw, that is absent on hind paws. Bristled hairs and blunt claws enhance grip on slippery surfaces, and special blood vessels keep paw pads from freezing.[10] Furthermore, scent glands located between a wolf's toes leave trace chemical markers behind, thereby helping the wolf to effectively navigate over large expanses while concurrently keeping others informed of its whereabouts.[10]
A wolf sometimes seems more massive than it actually is due to its bulky coat, which is made of two layers. The first layer consists of tough guard hairs designed to repel water and dirt. The second is a dense, water-resistant undercoat that insulates. Wolves have distinct winter and summer pelages that alternate in spring and autumn. Females tend to keep their winter coats further into the spring than males.
Coloration varies greatly, and runs from gray to gray-brown, all the way through the canine spectrum of white, red, brown, and black. These colors tend to mix in many populations to form predominantly blended individuals, though it is certainly not uncommon for an individual or an entire population to be entirely one color (usually all black or all white). A multicolor coat characteristically lacks any clear pattern other than it tends to be lighter on the animal's underside. Fur color sometimes corresponds with a given wolf population's environment; for example, all-white wolves are much more common in areas with perennial snow cover. Aging wolves acquire a grayish tint in their coats.
#8 habitat and range
Historically, wolves had the largest and most extensive range of all mammals, second only to humans. However, they have been extirpated from much of their former range, especially in the contiguous United States and much of western Europe.
Their former range in North America included Canada, the United States (except Hawaii), and Mexico in North America. Today, however, their range is limited to Canada, Alaska, and the northern states in the United States such as Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Washington state, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and a few other states. Many of the populations in the Lower 48 are fragmented and highly unstable, and many are wolves who have migrated from Canada. The most stable populations are in Alaska and Canada (except for the Canadian province of Newfoundland, where they became extinct in 1911). The Mexican subspecies that once ranged throughout the southwestern United States and Mexico is extinct in the wild. Captive breeding programs have reintroduced several small populations in thw wild.
Their former range in Eurasia included most countries in Europe, most of northern Russia, parts of the Middle East, India, and Nepal. They are nearly extinct throughout most of western Europe, with very few stable populations still alive in Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Greece and Turkey. The grey wolf was heavily persecuted in Europe up until the most recent years. The wolf became extinct in England in 1486, Scotland in 1743, and Ireland in 1770. There are very few wolves left in Scandinavia, the only known populations there are in Finland. The Indian wolf is very rare, and the genetics of the remaining animals is questionable due to interbreeding with feral dogs. There is an effort to reintroduce wolves to parts of their former range throughout the United States and in parts of Europe.
They inhabit a wide variety of habitats throughout their range, including grasslands, tundra, coniferous and deciduous forests, swamps, and deserts.
#9 nutrient cycle
the gray wolf is born then it dies it's decompsed body feeds the sol nutrients the smaller prey eats the grass then the wolf eats the smaller prey then histopry repeats it self once agian so on and so on
#10 role in ecosystem
As top predators, gray wolves are important in regulating populations of their prey animals.
#11 human impact
With the reintroduction of Canis lupus to Yellowstone National Park many people have begun to rethink how they feel about wolves.
Thousands of years ago, we invited wolves into our caves as hunting partner and protectors. An ancient bond was formed between humans and wolves that ultimately resulted in the domesticated canine. The dog became "man's best friend", but the wolf became the most persecuted and misunderstood animal in the world.
Over centuries Europeans' hatred of wolves grew as farms and livestock grazing lands replaced forests, squeezing the wolf's natural habitat. When Europeans came to the Americas, they brought their legends, myths, and fear of wolves with them. But the attitudes of the native peoples of North America toward wolves was vastly different; they were seen as thinking, reasoning fellow beings that possess souls. Like them, the wolf is a hunter, and lives in a pack much like a tribe. Native people call the wolf "brother" and treat it with respect and honor.
Historically, the fur of grey wolves was used for warmth. As top predators in many ecosystems, wolves are important in controlling populations of their prey.
Wolves are important in our culture, many people believe they symbolize the spirit of wilderness. Wolf products, including posters, books, and t-shirts are very popular. Wolf ecotourism is a major source of revenue for parks and reserves.
#12 status
There are three species of wolves in the world. The red wolf, Canis rufus, inhabits the southeastern United States, and the newly recognized Abyssinian wolf, Canis simensis, inhabits the highlands of Ethiopia, and until recently was considered a jackal.The gray wolf, Canis lupus, is the most common and inhabits most of the northern hemisphere; there are five subspecies of gray wolves in North America, and seven to 12 subspecies in Eurasia.
In an effort to assess the status of wolves around the world, the International Wolf Center periodically examines published information and consults experts who have knowledge or can make informed guesses about populations of wolves in each country. In 1998 we obtained population information from 41 countries and estimated a minimum world-wide wolf population of approximately 150,000 in 37 countries. Several other countries with wolves did not report, however, so this assessment should be considered a minimum. About 83 percent of the countries indicated that wolf numbers were stable or increasing, while 17 percent suggested they were decreasing. Of the 31 countries that reported legal status, 77 percent had some protection, while 23 percent listed wolves as unprotected. Protections varied from total legal protection to trapping and hunting with minimal restrictions. Four countries reported having no restrictions. Although illegal killing and high harvest are concerns in many areas, mo st experts agree that habitat destruction caused by increased agriculture, road construction, urban sprawl and the growth of rural communities is the greatest threat to gray wolves across the world.
Ethiopia's Abyssinian wolf population is estimated at about 550 wolves. This wolf is unique in that it preys primarily on rodents and seldom weighs more than 40 pounds. Most of the remaining Abyssinian wolves live in southern Ethiopia's Bale National Park, the largest alpine habitat on the African continent. Overgrazing, habitat loss, hybridization with domestic dogs and disease spread by domestic dogs are the primary threats to Abyssinian wolf survival.
The rarest wolf, the red wolf, was thought to be completely extinct in the wild. An aggressive captive breeding program has provided a second chance for the red wolf, which was successfully reintroduced to historic range in the southeastern United States in the 1980s. Between 75 and 80 red wolves now live in the wild, but they are restricted to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas on the coast of North Carolina. Lack of wild lands hamper further reintroduction efforts, and hybridization with coyotes threatens to swamp the genetic purity of this rare wolf. Interestingly, some biologists suggest the red wolf and the eastern subspecies of the gray wolf may be the same species. If so, the red wolf population now inhabiting the Southeast may be a remnant of a larger population from southeastern Canada. Nevertheless, both populations suffer from habitat loss and hybridization with coyotes. North Carolina's small population represents a unique opportunity to res tore this wolf to some of its historic range.
#13 conservation
In recent decades, humans have realized their mistakes. Efforts have been made to help restore wolves to their once vast habitats. One such effort was the restoration of a group of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in late 1994. Thirty wolves were captured in Alberta, Canada over a three year period, and were anesthetized. They had blood taken, their weight and height taken, and their teeth measured to determine age. Then they were transported to Idaho and then to Yellowstone. Of the wolves that were released, not many made it. Many were killed or died from disease. However, it was seen as a great success. That is until Judge William Downes, the same judge that allowed the wolves to enter the park in the first place, ruled against the wolves, saying that the released wolves fell on top of an existing wolf pack, and the wolves that they released and all of their offspring have to be moved. Unfortunately, no zoo will take wolves, and they cannot release them back in Canada, so the only choice is that the wolves be killed. So much work went into introducing wolves into a part of their former range that they had been completely exterminated from 60 years ago, and now it happens all over again.
However, efforts are being made to reintroduce wolves to other areas of their former range, such as in the Adirondack National Park in New York. The Wolf Trust in Britain is working to reintroduce wolves to their former habitat in Britain and Scotland, where wolves have been extinct for 300 years. The Southern Rockies Wolf Restoration Project is trying to reintroduce wolves in the southern Rocky Mountains region, where they have been missing for probably over a hundred years.
The grey wolf (Canis lupus lupus) is very common in Greece, where it lives in the mountainous regions, mostly in the northern Greece mainland. A pack has recently been reintroduced to Mount Parnis National Park, which is about an hour's drive from Athens, the capital of Greece. (Greek wolf information provided by: Michael - Odysseus Yakoumakis.)
In addition, wolves are protected in some areas of their range. In the United States, the grey wolf is listed as Threatened by the USDI's Fish and Wildlife Service. The IUCN lists wolves as Least Concern, except for the Italian population, which it lists as Vulnerable. The grey wolf is listed in CITES Appendix II for all populations and subspecies, except in the countries of Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, where the grey wolf is listed in Appendix I.
However, many countries, especially in Eurasia, still consider the wolf a pest species, and actively are trying to exterminate it. Legal protection does not exist, even in countries where wolves are almost extinct.
