The weight and the size of a wolf can vary worldwide. In general the height is from 0.6 to 0.95 meters (26-38 inches) at the shoulders. The weight ranges from 20 to 62 kilograms. The largest of all wild canids is the grey wolf. The smallest wolves come from the Arabian Wolf subspecies, the females may weigh as little as 10 klograms (22 ponds) at murturity. femle wolves generally weigh about 20% les then the males. Wolves can measure anywhere from 1.3 to 2 meters (4.5-6.5 feet) from the nose to the tip of the tail. The bodies of the wolves are built for stamina, ideal for long distance travel. Their powerful backs and legs and narrow chests assist in their travelling. Wolves are capable of trotting several miles at a pace of 10 kilometers per hour (6 miles per hour), and can reach speeds up to 65 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour) during a chase, and while sprinting, they can cover up to 5 meters (16 feet) per run.





Wolves are animals that mostly live in packs. A pack is made when a male and a female wolf meet eothother and stay together. as a mated pair, they find a territory to settle in and raise their cubs. Their cubs will stay with them until they are old enough to leave hom, which is usully the time they are 3 years old to start a family or pack of their own. The hierarchy in a wolf pack is lead by the alpha male and female. In most larger packs, there are two seperate hierachies in addition to an overbearing one. The first would consist of the males, led by the alpha male, and the other consists of females, led by the alpha female. In these situations, the alpha male would assume the top position overall in the pack. However, in some cases during the mating seasion the alpha female would take total dominance even while the pups are still in the den. She would do this to show the rest of the pack that she is the one to serve. She will also decide where the den will be. Knowing where the den will be, the pack will go in search for food and bring it back to the den for the hungry pups or females.

The male and female hierarchies are independent and are maintained by aggresive and elaborate displays of dominance. One of the key privileges held by the alpha wolves in control of the breeding rights. The alpha wolves are usually the only wolves in the pack to breed, and they actively and sometimes aggressively prevent other wolves in the pack from breeding. If the other wolves want to breed, they usually have to lead their won pack and set up somewhere else.

Another privilege the alpha wolves have is the access to food. When a large prey is caught, the alpha wolves have the first rights to eat as much as they want, along with their pups. In larger packs of wolves, there is sometimes a "second in command", they are known as the "Beta wolf or wolves". The Beta wolves take on the role of raising the offspring of the alpha pair when they are absent. When the alpha dies, Beta wolves are the most likely to challenge their superiors for the role of alpha, though some Betas will let lower ranking wolves push ahead of them for the position of alpha because they are content with being second. Some Betas, however are more ambitious, and they cannot wait for the top spot and they will challenge the alpha sooner or leave the pack and crete their own. Sometimes, if the alpha is an aging wolf, he will give up his position and allow the beta to take his place.

The healthier alphas will fight his challenger intesely to keep his role, sometimes resulting in one being injured. The wolf that lost is usually chased away or they may be killed by other aggressive wolves. Fighting for the role of alpha is more common during the mating season. The rank order within a pack is established and maintained through a serious of "ritualised fights" and "ritual bluffing". The high ranking status is based on their personality or attitude rather than on size or strength. In a pack of wolves, the rank may shift almost constantly.




Wolves howl for many reasons, howling is a way of communicating with other wolves. Wolves howl when they are rallying for a hunt, mourning, communicating with another pack of wolves or when a pack member has been seperated. When a lost wolf howls, the other members of the pack respond, guiding him home by the sound, all the pack members recognise eachothers voices. Howling can also be used as a declaration of territory, or a sign of protection, such as protecting a fresh kill. Larger packs of wolves will howl more than smaller packs of wolves because the smaller packs of wolves don't want to draw too much attention to themselves. The packs that are close by tend to respond to each others howls, which can mean trouble for the two wolves. Therefore, wolves tend to howl with great care.

Wolves howl at various levels of pitches and tones to prevent a listener from acurately estimating the number of wolves involved. Not knowing how many wolves there are, it makes the rival pack wary of what action to take. During the twilight hours is when the wolves tend to howl the most, usually before the adults go and hunt and on their return. Wolves tend to howl more during the breeding seasons and throughout the first few years of the pups. The wolf pups will also begin to howl more, and will be provoked into howling sessions quite easily. Howling becomes less random as the wolves learn to distinguish howling pack memeber, from rival wolves. There are many misunderstandings regarding to why wolves howl. Contrary to popular beleif, wolves do not howl for the sake of howling at the moon, and despite the traditional imagery, wolves don't always tend to sit when howling, they often remain standing. Under some conditions, a wolf's howl can be heard from as far as 10 miles (16 kilometers). A wolf's howl can last between 3 to 11 seconds at a time.

In addition to howling, wolves can also produce whimpers, growls, barks, and squeaks. Whimpering tends to serve a either a friendly greeting sound, or submissive. Wolves growl when they are attempting to threaten another wolf or are behaving aggresively. Wolves barly bark, but when they do, it is often as an alarm call or when they play.




Wolves usually hunt in packs, or sometimes they would hunt individually. A wolf will mostly alwyas eat what it catches almost completely. Wolves have more of an advantage when hunting in packs because they are intelligent animals working together and they are able to take down animals that are much larger and stronger than an individual wolf. Wolves are strict carnivores and to stay alive, they need to eat some sort of food for energy and nutrients. Wolves do not kill for sport, but for survival. Wolves are scavengers and hunters, and they will eat anything they catch from large mammals to small rodents.

Wolves have large stomachs that can devour 20-25 pounds of food at any feeding time. They can survive up to 2 weeks without food, and sometimes even more if prey is scarce. Pups are fed by the adults who regurguitate fresh meat from their stomachs, or carry back fresh peices of meat to the den. Wolves can also play an important role to other animal herds, because wolves hunt the weak or sick animals, they are actually helping the other heards regain strength by ridding them of burden animals. Wolves live and hunt mostly in their own territory. The pack will gaurd and defend their territory from other intruding wolves. Territory size depends on the availability of prey. If the prey is scarce, the territory size can be as small as 25-30 square miles. However, if prey is plentiful, the territory can cover up to 80-90 square miles. A hunt will begin with all the pack members gathering, greeting eachother and howling.

The wolves will aproach the prey in the opposite direction of the wind to avoid the animal from detecting the wolves' scent and run away. The wolves will close in slowly, sometimes in single file. as soon as their prey is aware it is being pursued and tries to escape, the chase begins. The wolves chase their prey, and once it is caught, they bite the animal by attacking the rump or side. Larger animals are usually attacked this way so the wolves could avoid the horns of the animal, which is used as a weapon on wolves. Once the animal is down, the animal will be weakened and killed with a bite to the throat or snout, then it is dragged away for all to feed upon. Wolf hunting could either last minutes or hours depending on whether their attacks are successful or not.