![]() ![]() To communicate dominance, they carry their tails high and stand tall. The dominant male and female are in charge of the pack. Wolves use body language to convey the rules of the pack and rule number one says that the pack is made up of leaders and followers. There is a highly complex social order within wolf packs and each pack has a dominant male and female. They also learned how to survive on fat stored in the body instead of needing food as often as other species of wolves do.Īrctic wolves have keen senses of sight, hearing, and smell.Īrctic wolves live in packs of just a couple members to about twenty. They have fur on the paws to insulate them from snow and ice and also provide for a better grip on slippery surfaces. As a result their body temperature can stay warm enough even when it is bitter cold.Īrctic wolves have almost completely white fur all year which allows them to blend into their snowy surroundings. They first layer helps to form a waterproof barrier for the skin. The outer layer actually gets thicker as the winter months come along. To help reduce heat loss, they have more-rounded and shorter ears, a shorter muzzle and shorter legs than other gray wolf subspecies.Īrctic wolves have two thick layers of fur. The Arctic wolf is well adapted to living in cold environments. They weigh from 45 to 70 kilogram (100 to 155 pounds). Their shoulder heights vary from 63 to 79 centimeters (25 to 31 inches) A literature compilation suggested that arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos Pocock, 1935) preferentially feed on caribou (Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)) and muskoxen, but can sustain themselves on arctic hares and Greenland collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus (Traill, 1823)) in areas with limited or no ungulate populations.Arctic wolves range from 1 to 1.8 meters (40 to 70 inches) in length including tail. Prey remains in 54 wolf scats collected at three sites in the high Arctic region surrounding the Hall Basin (Judge Daly Promontory, Ellesmere Island, Canada, and Washington Land and Hall Land, both in northwestern Greenland) pointed to a dietary importance of arctic hare (Lepus arcticus Ross, 1819 55% frequency of occurrence) and muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus (Zimmermann, 1780) 39% frequency of occurrence), although we observed diet variation among the sites. To improve our ability to manage Arctic ecosystems under environmental change, we therefore need knowledge about Arctic predator diets. Global warming is expected to increase the importance of predation for ecosystem regulation in Arctic environments. Although wolf diet is well studied, we have scant information from high Arctic areas. The grey wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the most widespread large carnivores on Earth, and occurs throughout the Arctic. We suggest that climate change may alter the dynamics among wolves, arctic hare, muskoxen, and caribou, and we encourage further studies evaluating how climate change influences predator–prey interactions in high Arctic environments. A literature compilation suggested that arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos Pocock, 1935) preferentially feed on caribou (Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)) and muskoxen, but can sustain themselves on arctic hares and Greenland collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus (Traill, 1823)) in areas with limited or no ungulate populations. ![]() ![]()
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