There are two universally recognized species of wolves in the world, the gray wolf (Canis Lupas) and the red wolf (Canis Rufus).  Gray wolves range in colors from grizzled gray or black to all white. The gray wolf resembles German Shepherds and Malamutes. Though they once nearly disappeared from the lower 48 states, today wolves have returned to the Great Lakes, Northern Rockies, and Southwestern United States.

The wolf is a carnivore, an animal made for catching, killing, and eating other creatures. In Minnesota the white deer is the wolves’ primary prey along with the moose, beaver, snowshoe, and other mammals. The wolf requires at least 3.7 pounds of meat per day for minimum maintenance, while growing and reproducing wolves may need 2-3 times of meat per day. Wolves are also scavengers and often eat other animals that have died because of other causes.

Wolves breed once a year in late winter or early spring, depending on where they live. For example, Gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes region breed in February to March, while Gray wolves in the arctic may breed a few weeks later in March to April. When wolf pups are first born, they are blind, deaf, and hardly have any sense of smell. At first, wolf pups will only consume milk from their mothers. On average, they’ll feed four or five times a day, gaining plenty of nutrition to help them grow. When they reach roughly 2 weeks old, they grow their milk teeth and can now eat small pieces of regurgitated meat. Unfortunately, wolf pups have several different threats that can stop them from reaching maturity. Some pups die of diseases, but they can also die so from malnutrition or starvation because of how tough it is to find food in the wild. Young pups also face other common dangers such as being preyed upon by Golden eagles and bears.