Gray wolf
Home > Canids > Gray wolf > Slide schow of Canis lupus
ORIGIN
The wolf would have appeared in North America here 1 million years. This mammal would have joined Siberia by Alaska which one could join thanks to the low sea level, then the north of Eurasia.
Recent research tends to show that the wolf is the single ancestor of all the races of domestic dogs. He belongs to the family of canids, group of 38 species of mammals like the dog, the jackal or the fox.
In 1758, the wolf is a species recognized and Carl von Linné, Swedish naturalist, baptize it canis lupus.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The wolf is the largest alive original carnivore in Eurasia and North America. Like all canids, it is well adapted to the race and drives out its preys in the prosecutors.
Its directions best developed are the sense of smell and hearing. On the other hand its sight is, when with it, weaker.
The wolf weighs on average (that varies according to the species) from 30 to 50 kg. Its life expectancy is about 15 to 16 years.
DISTRIBUTION
At the origin, the wolf populated a vast surface going of Europe as far as India and in Japan, of North America to Mexico. He lived in the tundra, in the forest zones in the steppes until the limit of the desert.
In Europe, it was formerly strongly represented. Nowadays on the other hand, only some residual populations are preserved in the mountains Spanish, Italian, Scandinavian and Balkan. It is a little more frequent in the east of Europe, in particular in Carpates. In winter, it even appears very far in-outside limits of its usual surface.
SOCIAL LIVE
The wolf is not a recluse, it is a social animal and the presence of its similar is essential for him. The wolves live in pack from 3 to 15 individuals. These are generally family packs whose each member is the son, the girl or the cousin of another.
Each one occupies a quite precise place in a hierarchy to respect. The life within the pack is hard and the competition is severe. To fight to gain and preserve its place, to fight for food, to fight for the females. They adopt what one calls the law of the horde. Most extremely keep silent weakest, obtains the favors of a female and will be able to hope for a descent. Around him the pack is organized of which it will have subjected each member. This reign will continue until another wolf defies it and beats it.
To be a wolf, it is to know which is its row in the pack, with which congeneric it owes the respect and which are those which owe it to him. Without this rule of tender of weakest to the predominance of most extremely, not of pack and not of wolves.
According to various estimates, the territory of a pack extends on a surface going from 280 km² to 720 km². It is delimited by reference marks which are odorous marks that the couple leaves that and there thanks to a gland located under the tail. Sometimes a pack accepts that foreign wolves pass on its grounds. But, in general, those prefer to avoid any confrontation while remaining out of unfavourable territory.
SAFEGUARD WOLF
The wolf is an animal extremely ignored nowadays and the stories for children did nothing but increase the fear of this one whereas this canid is only one apprehensive animal which in fact is afraid of the man.
It disappeared from the landscapes of a good amount of countries known as civilized following the massacres perpetrated by various civilizations.
Today, the wolf is of return in some of these countries thanks to the actions of ready Samaritans all to protect it. That they are actions on the ground or in writing, those were made hear so that one stops killing the wolf stupidly.
Although Manimal-world is only one site encyclopedic it support also this kind of action and invites you to visit some sites well better placed on the Web in order to discover how and why we should protect the wolf like all the wild animals. Here are some one which I selected for you :
http://paroleanimaux.googlepages.com
http://sites.google.com/site/hurlements-de-loups
http://www.stop-animals-genocid.com
http://protection-animale.e-monsite.com
In order to warn the significant hearts, I prefer to announce that certain images of these sites can sometimes run up against the sensitivity of young people.
