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Line 1: − + − Attempts were made in the 1930s and thereafter to eliminate these animals as pests, in the United States, particularly in [[Yellowstone National Park]]. Currently, [[Alaska]] is the only state that endorses endorses control of wolf populations. Under the current governor, [[Sarah Palin]], it is legal to shoot wolves from low flying airplanes. The Canadian government also made plans to exterminate wolves (see [[Farley Mowat]]).+ − + + − The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is the ancestor of the domestic [[dog]]. Since even in the evolutionary view this is considered to have occurred in a relatively short time frame (as "little" as 15,000 years ago) this is one area where the views of [[YEC|Young earth creationists]] and evolutionists generally overlap.+ + − Wolves mate for life.+ + − == Perceptions of Wolves ==+ − Wolves are thought by many to be dangerous. However, the only cases of a wolf attacking a human are cases where the wolf was either infected with rabies or desperate. The truth is that wolves are very careful to stay away from humans.+ − + + + + + + + + + + + Line 24:
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added more detail, and yes, the wolf still mates for life.
{{Taxonomy|image = 480px-Canis lupus laying.jpg|kingdom = Animalia|phylum = Chordata|subphylum = Vertebrata|class = Mammalia|order = Carnivora|suborder = Caniformia |family = Canidae|genus = Canis|species = lupus|}}
{{Taxonomy|image = 480px-Canis lupus laying.jpg|kingdom = Animalia|phylum = Chordata|subphylum = Vertebrata|class = Mammalia|order = Carnivora|suborder = Caniformia |family = Canidae|genus = Canis|species = lupus|}}
'''Wolves''' are dog-like animals classified as canids, which belong in the genus canis, along with coyotes. There are several subspecies of wolf, including domestic dogs, dingoes, and the mexican wolf. They usually hunt in packs. As a sign of submissiveness, a wolf will expose his neck to another wolf, who (instead of taking advantage of this vulnerability) will assume a dominant role toward him.
'''Wolves''' are carnivorous animals of the genus ''Canis'', and consist of a single species, the gray or timber wolf (''Canis lupus'') of the northern hemisphere. Wolves are known for their intelligence, social structure, and hunting skills, yet despite being the primary ancestor of the domestic dog, the wolf has been the subject of persecution throughout history as a pest of livestock, a killer of humans, and the subject of evil in many tales of folklore, and often without a basis in fact.
Several other canids are also known by the name "wolf". The Mexican wolf (''Canis lupus baileyi'') is considered by authorities to be a subspecies of the gray wolf; the red wolf (''Canis rufus'') of the southeastern [[United States]] continues to have some debate on whether it is a subspecies of the gray wolf or a distinct species in its own right. Additionally, the coyote or prairie wolf (''Canis latrans'') of North America and the South American maned wolf (''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') bear the name as well but are not considered true wolves.
The last wolf in [[England]] was bagged on the fringes of Hounslow Heath, Middlesex, in 1756.
==Description==
The wolf stands about 3 feet at the shoulder, and is about 5 feet in length from nose to tail; its weight is between 70 and 120 pounds. Females are smaller than males, and wolves in higher latitudes are generaly larger than those further south. The coat is bushy, generally grey in color, although some wolves have brown or red tinges; all-black or all-white wolves also appear in many packs.
==Habitat==
Wolves live in a wide range of habitats, from arctic tundra to forest to prarie to desert. Historically, the wolf ranged over much of the northern hemisphere, from central Mexico to the high arctic in North America, much of Europe, and much of Asia north of the Himalayas - one of the most widely-ranged land mammals on earth.
==Habits==
Very few wolves live as loners; the pack takes up much of their lives. The pack consists of about ten animals divided into male and female heirarchies, which are led by the alphas. Alphas, the oldest wolves in the pack, maintain their status through fighting.
Wolves use a great deal of recogizable body language, scent, and sounds to communicate with each other. The position of tails relative to their bodies, lowering and exposure of their necks, the bearing of teeth can indicate submission or dominance to one another. Territories are marked by urine or feces, and packs will defend them from others. Howling is done communaly, as a means to assemble, communicate with others, or as a hunting call at dusk.
When the pack is on the hunt, prey generally consists of large mammals - deer, caribou, moose - and the pack will cooperate with one another to catch and kill their target, which usually consists of a weak, old, or young animal. They will also prey on smaller game, such as rodents or rabbit, and sometimes will scavange carrion when no live prey is available.
== Wolves in the Bible ==
====Reproduction====
Wolves are monogamous, and mate for life [http://www.wolftrust.org.uk/a-reproduction.html][http://www.wonderquest.com/animal-mate-for-life.htm][http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/grayWolf.html]. The alpha wolves in the pack do the actual breeding, which occurs in the spring; the pups are born two months later. The average litter size is six, but sometimes more are born. The pups open their eyes after nine days, with a gradual weaning to regurgitated meat within a month. The pups stay within the den for their first six weeks, gradually coming out to explore and play at the end of that period; by their third month they learn to hunt, and are fully adult in eighteen months.
==Value to man==
Attempts were made in the 1930s and thereafter to eliminate these animals as pests in the United States, particularly in [[Yellowstone National Park]], wear it had been considered that stray wolves regularly fed upon livestock. By the time they were included in the ''Red Data Book'' in 1973, they were severely restricted in range throughout North America and Europe, and classified as an endangered species. The last wolf in [[England]] had died long before, bagged on the fringes of Hounslow Heath, Middlesex, in 1756.
Currently, [[Alaska]] is the only state that endorses endorses control of wolf populations. Under the current governor, [[Sarah Palin]], it is legal to shoot wolves from low flying airplanes. The Canadian government also made plans to exterminate wolves (see [[Farley Mowat]]).
====Perceptions of Wolves====
To date there has been no known documented case of a healthy adult wolf killing a human being; normally, a pack of wolves are wary of man and tend to stay away. Despite this, wolves have been cast as the villain throughout history, with the European legends of the [[werewolf]], the fairy tales of "The Three Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood" being a few examples. Other tales portray the wolf in a more favorable manner: the boy Mowgli being raised by a wolf in Runyad Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'', and earlier, the twins Romulus and Remus saved and sucked by a she-wolf many years before one of the founded the city of [[Rome]].
====Wolves in the Bible====
Wolves are mentioned several times in the [[Bible]], where they are typically used as examplars of savagery. When Jesus sends out the [[Apostles]], he says,
Wolves are mentioned several times in the [[Bible]], where they are typically used as examplars of savagery. When Jesus sends out the [[Apostles]], he says,
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
''The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.'' [[Isaiah (Biblical book)|Isaiah]] 65:25 (KJV)
''The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.'' [[Isaiah (Biblical book)|Isaiah]] 65:25 (KJV)
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
==Evolutionary claims==
The wolf is the ancestor of the domestic [[dog]]; DNA tests on several dog breed considered the oldest known revealed that they contained strands of wolf DNA [http://www.malmagic.com/History%20of%20the%20malamute.html]. Since even in the evolutionary view this is considered to have occurred in a relatively short time frame (as "little" as 15,000 years ago) this is one area where the views of [[YEC|Young earth creationists]] and evolutionists generally overlap.
==External links==
==External links==