Wolves An Endangered Mammal By Ocea Lillian Grade 5 • January 30, 2014
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Table of Contents 2
Names!
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Life Cycle!
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Food Source!
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Threats!
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Conclusion/Solution!
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Bibliography!
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Introduction!
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Introduction As you walk through the dense Alaskan forest, everything is silent. All of a sudden the bone chilling howl of a wolf rings through the trees. Two more answer and before you know howls are coming from all around you. It is hunting time for the Grey wolf. For thousands of years people have hated and feared the wolf of myth and have not even taken a second look at the wolf of fact. Now we are learning the truth.
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Names For years there have been at least five species of wolves. They were violently slaughtered and hunted until there were only two species of wolves left in the wild. Those two wolves are the Grey wolf and the Red wolf. The Grey wolf is making a tremendous come back but the Red wolf’s population is dwindling.
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Life Cycle When mating season rolls around, the alpha pair gets ready to mate. Mating season is mostly whenever the alpha pair feels like mating. They spend most of their time together leading up to the day when they will mate. Only the alpha pair mate although other wolves in the pack will often be in heat. If they try to mate the alpha male will stop them. http://holisticwords.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/alphamale-and-female-wolf.jpg
Mates spend most of their time together.
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Pups are born about six weeks after mating. The mother wolf usually has two to four pups. When it is about week before the mother gives birth, the alpha pair goes out and looks for a den, burrow or a cave. After the alpha pair finds a place to have the pups, the rest of the pack goes out and brings back food for the mother wolf. The alpha pair usually finds a place next to a drinking hole or a small pond so the mother can drink without leaving her pups for too long. After the pups are born the whole pack helps the mother take care of them. While the mother helps hunt, some of her older daughters and her sisters will help take care of the pups
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Food Source Wolves eat mostly ungulates or large hoofed animals like elk, deer, moose and, caribou. Before wolves go on a hunt they must gather together. Instead of running all over the forest looking for other wolves, the alpha male will howl to notify all other wolves in the pack that it is time for them to hunt.
When hunting, the pack works together as best as they can.
Wolves are very territorial of their food.
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Threats Wolves almost went extinct because of major hunting and killing. Wolves were a big problem wherever people depended on their live-stock to survive. When wolves were hungry enough they would kill peoples live stock. Ranchers would shoot and sometimes hunt down wolves to protect Wolves were and still are a big problem for ranchers their animals.
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have one.
People would also hear stories like Aesop’s. In his stories he would make the wolves look like greedy and dangerous creatures. Other stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Boy who Cried Wolf”have given the wolf a bad reputation. In those stories the wolves were threatening to kill and to eat live-stock and humans. Thats not the case at all. Besides the occasional killing of livestock, wolves are usually desolate creatures and are shy. Although, if you bother a wolf or its pups, they will protect them self and their offspring. Wolves were also hunted for their soft fur. Wolf fur coats are greatly prized and people will pay hundreds just to
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Conclusion/Solution For years scientists have dreamed of seeing the wolf running free in the wild. Now their dream is finally coming true. If we want to keep these amazing creatures in our world we have to protect them and help as much as we can. And if it is that these creature will one day go extinct (let’s hope not) then we have to treasure them while they are here.
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Bibliography Bailey, Jill. Gray Wolf. Chicago: Heineman, 2005. Print. Animals Under Threat. "Grey wolf." Encyclopedia of Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. <http://eol.org/pages/328607/overview>. Imbriaco, Alison. The Red Wolf. Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2008. Print. Saving Endangered Species. Kalman, Bobbie. The Life Cycle of a Wolf. New York: Crabtree, 2002. Print. Lawrence, R. D. Wolves. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990. Print. Mitchell, Hayley R. The Wolf. San Diego: Lucent, 1998. Print. Endangered Animal and Habitats. Reiter, Chris. The Gray Wolf. Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2003. Print. Endangered and Threatened Animals. Spilsbury, Richard, and Lousie Spilsbury. A Pack of Wolves. Chicago: Heineman, 2003. Print. Swinburne, Stephen R. Once a Wolf. Boston: Houghton, 1999. Print. Scientists on the Field. "Wolf." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. <http://www.defenders.org/wolf/wolves-101>. Wolfe, Art, and Chris Weston. Wolves. Rickmansworth: Evans Mitchell, 2006. Print. Wildlife Monographs.