Arctic Wolves
The arctic wolf is well-suited for the harsh cold of the Arctic Circle. They live on the wild tundra and roam the icy plains in a pack. They only go in dens when they mate, two at a time. When they are not mating, they huddle close together to keep warm. They live in forests and sleep there. They only leave the safety of the trees for hunting and mating.
It is true that wolves eat meat, but they also eat berries and plants. They hunt caribou, moose, rodents, and birds. Pups eat by licking the adult’s jaw after they go hunting. The adult wolf brings up the food and the pups eat the predigested food.
When wolves go hunting, they go as a pack. For example, wolves may prey on moose. They look for sick or old moose. Once they find one, the wolves advance on their future dinner. The other moose dash away. Since the old moose runs slower, the wolves’ strong, thin legs catch the moose. They circle around it. They bite it in the stomach and other places till it loses enough blood that it dies. The wolves eat the moose where they caught it. Afterwards, if there are leftovers, they bring the meat home and bury it for later.
Wolves have a dominance order in the pack. They are separated by strength mostly. The strongest members of the pack are the alpha male and female. These two mate in mating season (which is in summer). The next wolves in line behind the alphas are the noble wolves. Then, there are the wolves at the bottom of the list. On a hunt, the lower ranking wolves watch the pups. Pups have their own dominance order too. Wolves fight with one another to earn dominance. How high the wolf holds its tail explains what rank the wolf is.
Reproducing is very important, even though only two wolves mate. The alpha male and female dig a den and have babies in their den. A litter is normally 5-15 pups. Wolves are born blind and develop sight 2 weeks later. The alpha male and female return to the pack a few weeks later, with the pups. The whole pack is in charge of the pups. Wolf parents are one of the best in the world because they never let their pups out of their sight.
Wolves are important to the ecosystem and they are dying off because humans are hunting too many of them. We should try not to kill so many wolves. Wolves are great animals. Let’s try to save them!
