THE GREY WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus Habitat: Forests. Range: Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Minnesota, Alaska. Population: 2,500 in lower 48 states, 10,000 in Alaska The grey wolf being the largest member of the canid family stands 26 to 38 inches at the shoulder and has a length of 40 to 58 inches from the head to the base of the tail. The tail can be as long as 20 inches but are usually no shorter than 13 inches. The male is generally 15 to 20 percent larger than the female. They range from solid white or black, to all shades of grey, tan and brown. Some wolves have dark markings on their faces, while others have a patch on their back, that is saddle-shaped and contrasts with the rest of their coat. Quite often the tip of the wolf's tail is black in color.

THE RED WOLF Scientific Name: Canis rufus Habitat: Coastal pairies and marshlands, the territorial range being 25-50 square miles. Range: it was once found throughout the southeastern United States, from the Atlantic coast to central Texas and from the Gulf Coast to central Missouri and southern Illinois. Red wolves are medium sized canids similar in appearance to coyotes, but more robust. Their legs and ears are relatively long, compared with the coyote's, and the colouration is similar, though more tawny and coarser. Red wolves are slightly smaller than greys, with a more slender elongated head and shorter, coarser fur. Only a few hundred Red Wolves remain in captivity. This wolf Species is endangered.

THE MANED WOLF Scientific Name: Chrysocyon brachyurus The maned wolf appears as a cross among different species: the head and coloring of a wolf, the large ears of an African hunting dog and the body of a hyena. Some think the wolf looks like a mix between a wolf and a fox. Maned wolves are noctural, preferring to rest under forest cover during the day and hunt until sunrise. Contrary to popular opinion, these animals are very shy and only attack humans when they feel threatened or afraid. Maned wolves live in the South American grasslands and scrub forests of Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay, eastern Bolivia and southeastern Peru.

THE ETHIOPIAN WOLF Scientific Name: Canis simensis The Ethiopian wolf has long legs and a long muzzle, resembling a coyote in conformation and size. It has an elongated skull with a slender protracted nose and small and widely spaced teeth, especially the premolars. The adult pelage is soft and short, of a distinctive bright tawny rufous colour with a dense whitish to page ginger underfur. The coat is lighter in juveniles, and turns to yellowish in females in during the breeding season.

Subspecies:

ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus ligoni The Alexander Archipelago wolf lives on the southeastern Alaskan mainland from Dixon Entrance to Yakutat Bay, and on all the larger islands of the Alexander Archipelago. Smaller, darker and shorter-haired than the gray wolves of Interior Alaska, Alexander Archipelago wolves eat primarily Sitka black-tailed deer; they also prey on beaver, and occasionally eat mustelids, other small mammals, birds, and salmon.

ARABIAN WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus arabs Smaller than the European or American wolves, the Arabian Wolves have shorter hair and are grayish-beige in color. When hunting, the Arabian wolf will attack animals up to the size of a goat. It will also readily eat any carrion that is encountered. The pure Arabian wolf's eyes are yellow with black pupils. Today many are found with brown eyes, a certain sign that their ancestors have interbred with feral dogs. This poses a very serious threat to the survival of this species.

ARCTIC WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus arctos Arctic wolves are found on Canada's arctic islands and the eastern and northern shores of Greenland. In appearance they are similar to other wolves, but are usually white or cream coloured and have very long, thick fur, and they have shorter ears, legs and muzzles. These traits make arctic wolves well adapted to the cold, snowy environment they live in. Their long, white fur camouflages them against the snow and their shorter ears and snouts helps prevent them from losing heat. They must tolerate months of darkness, temperatures in the sub-zero range, and weeks without food. The ground is frozen most of the year.

BRITISH COLUMBIAN WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus columbianus The British Columbian Wolf is among the largest of the wolves. This wolf's coat color is generally either grey or black, the blacks being the largest of the two. This wolf subspecies is found in the Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta.

CASCADE MOUNTAINS WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus fuscus Once known as the "brown wolf" because of its cinnamon or buffy color. It is a medium sized animal, weighing about 80 to 90 pounds. It is not known if any of these animals still survive.

EASTERN TIMBER WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus lycaon Timber wolves are the largest wild members of the canid family, with males usually being larger than females. Timbers normally have silvery grey-brown backs, light tan underparts and bushy tails, although many color variations have been observed. During winter, their fur becomes darker on the neck, shoulders, and rump. Ranging in length from five to five-and-a-half feet long (including their 15 to 19 inch tail). Timbers are about two-and-a-half feet high and weigh between 50 and 100 pounds. An average adult male weighs 75 pounds, an average adult female, 60 pounds.

EURASIAN WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus lupus The Eurasian Wolf is almost identical in size and behavior to that of the Plains Wolf of North America. Eurasian Wolves roam in smaller packs of one to three animals and feed primarily on red deer, roe deer, and wild boar. Eurasian Wolves have suffered dramatically from the consequences of civilization. Over-hunting of natural prey and over-development of land have forced wolves into the stockyards.

EURASIAN TUNDRA WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus albus Large wolf from Northern Russia. Most tundra wolves have a gray color, with mixes of black, rust and silver gray. Although they were eliminated from some of the Arctic islands north of Siberia, they have been recently seen on Wrangle Island.

GREAT PLAINS WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus nubilus The Great Plains Wolf Has the largest range in North America and is commonly known as the Great Plains wolf or the buffalo wolf. It was thought to be extinct by 1926, but studies indicate that the wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan are descendants of this subspecies.

INDIAN WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus pallipes Indian Wolves live in arid and semi-arid grasslands, rarely stepping into the forests. In the northern steppe regions, the Indian Wolf tends to be bigger and have larger packs and territories than in the southern arid areas. The physical size difference suggests the northern wolves may have bred with a larger subspecies. Each of the countries in this wolf's range commonly refer to it after the name of their nation. For example, the Indian Wolf is the same subspecies as the Israeli Wolf.

MEXICAN WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus baileyi The Mexican Wolf is the smallest North American grey wolf, originally found in Mexico and the southwest US. It is commonly known as the Mexican wolf and, in Spanish, is called lobo. No known Mexican wolves remain in the wild in the United States, and only a few unverified sightings have been reported in Mexico. All known survivors of this subspecies are part of the government's captive breeding programs.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus occidentalis The Rocky Mountain Wolf is also referred to as the Mackenzie Valley Wolf, and is the largest wolf in North America. They are froom Alaska and western Canada, and varey in colour from white to black. A species quite similar to the grey wolf also exists in the United States.

TIBETAN WOLF Scientific Name: Canis lupus laniger The Tibetan Wolf is a medium sized wolf with long, lightly coloured fur. It inhabits mainland China, Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet, and southwestern Russia.

Iberian Wolf Scientific Name:Canis lupus signatus Physically, the Iberian wolf has a long face with a pointed muzzle and short, rigid. triangular ears. Its eyes are triangular with a golden or amber color. The legs are long and strong, with the dark markings on the front legs being deep black in color, hence the name signatus. The shade of the coat varies seasonally. It is lighter, silkier and less full than the in winter, when the coat is of a darker gray or redish color.

Extinct Wolves

The fact that the lower part of the legs of the dire wolf are proportionally shorter than those of the gray wolf, indicates that the dire wolf was probably not a good a runner as the gray wolf. Many paleontologists think that the dire wolf may have used its relatively large, massive teeth to crush bone. The dire wolf was one of the animals that did not survive the last Ice Age. Perhaps the dire wolf depended on scavanging the remains of the large herbivores. The extinction of these herbivores may have then led to the extinction of the dire wolf.

DIRE WOLF The Dire Wolf looked fairly similar to the modern gray wolf,however, there were several important differences. The dire wolf had a larger, broader head and shorter, more sturdy legs than its modern relative. The teeth of dire wolf much larger and more massive than those of the gray wolf. The braincase of the dire wolf is also smaller than that of a similarly-sized gray wolf.

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