Arctic Wolves
Arctic Wolves inhabit arctic land masses: tundra, rolling hills, ice fields, banks or shallow lakes and green flats. It’s one of the most inhospitable terrains in the world. The ground is consistently frozen there, as the temperature is usually below zero. Summer lasts only for a month or two in tundra. It takes great strength and endurance to survive in such conditions. To find food, Arctic Wolves have to cover large distances. There is not much grass and almost no shrub in tundra. It’s very difficult to hunt even small mammals, like hare and lemming, but approaching and attacking a caribou or a musk ox with their excellent hearing is possible only when a large pack of wolves is hunting.
A pack of Arctic Wolves usually consists of 7-10 relatives: a breeding pair with their adult cubs and unmated siblings. All members of the pack look up to the alpha pair. Young males leave their family at the age of 1.5 or 2 years and search for their own territory and a female. Sometimes, lone wolves form a new pack when they find unoccupied territory. When food is scarce, wolves form larger packs. A pack raids the territory of about 800 square miles. In winter, when their potential prey migrates south, Arctic Wolves follow its migrating pattern and kill the weak and elderly animals.
Not any Arctic Wolf can breed. Normally, only alpha Arctic Wolves are allowed to mate, but if the pack has enough territory and prey, others may mate as well. The cubs are born in May or June. They have to grow and develop rapidly, because September in tundra is almost a winter month. Arctic Wolves give birth to 2-3 cubs, while other wolf subspecies have up to 6 cubs. Both parents are involved in feeding and teaching the young. The whole pack protects the cubs and helps with food. To acquire necessary hunting skills, young wolves stay with the family pack for 2 years.
Arctic Wolves rarely encounter with humans and little is known about their everyday life. They are the only subspecies of the Gray Wolf that preserves its original range. The population of Arctic Wolves is usually stable and increasing when prey is abundant.
