Arctic Wolves
All About Artic Wolves
Arctic wolves live in the most challenging of all environments--the Arctic region of Canada and Alaska. The land is covered with snow and ice for most of the year and winter temperatures can approach seventy degrees below zero. Arctic wolves adapt to the environment by growing a very thick undercoat and overcoat. Plus, their foot pads are extra thick so their feet don’t freeze. Even the stockier shape of their bodies, short legs, muzzle and small ears are designed so that Arctic wolves can keep heat in and cold out.
Arctic wolves are around three to five feet long and twenty-five to thirty inches at the shoulder. They weigh anywhere from seventy-five to one hundred twenty-five pounds, with the female being smaller than the male. Like other wolves, Arctic wolves live in packs, where the leaders are called the Alpha male and female while the pair on the bottom who have the lowest rank are called the Omega male and female. Arctic wolves mate for life.
Arctic wolves have fared better than their southern counterparts because the frigid nature of the Arctic has kept humans away. Some are still displaced by pipelines and other human endeavors, but for the most part, ice fields and glacial valleys are not places where humans seek to build large communities or places that appeal to tourists. The severe nature of the environment takes its toll on packs who must travel long distances to find food. Mostly, Arctic wolves eat caribou, musk oxen, Arctic hares and occasionally, seals or birds.
Wolves hunt continuously. They only catch and kill about fifty-percent of the animals they pursue. Lone wolves rarely survive because they are unable to kill their prey on their own. It usually takes the entire pack to run down and kill their next meal. That’s why when the wolves do have food, each one eats about twenty pounds of meat in one sitting. When they get back to the pack, the hunters regurgitate food for the baby wolves to eat. Arctic wolves are very strong and at the top of the food chain. The only real predator they have is the polar bear.
Arctic wolves breed once a year. The female doesn’t reach maturity until she is two years old while the male is mature by the time he is one year old. These wolves breed in the late winter and have a 63-day gestation period. Average weight of one pup is one pound. A litter may contain anywhere from one to seven pups. Wolf pups are born without the ability to see or hear and are totally dependent on their mother for care. The male wolf supplies the food during this time after birth. Pups can eat meat when they are a month old. Most leave home when they are a year old.
Because of the harsh natural conditions, Arctic wolves live to be ten years old on average. These wolves live as long as seventeen years in captivity. Arctic wolves are the only type of wolf that is not on the endangered species list.