Changes

====Reproduction====

====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.

Wolves are monogamous, and mate for life <ref>[http://www.wolftrust.org.uk/a-reproduction.html Wolf Trust; United Kingdom]</ref> <ref>[http://www.wonderquest.com/animal-mate-for-life.htm Wonderquest; Animals that mate for life]</ref> <ref>[http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/grayWolf.html The Wild Ones; Gray Wolf]</ref>.  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==

==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]], where 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.

Attempts were made in the 1930s and thereafter to eliminate these animals as pests in the United States, particularly in [[Yellowstone National Park]], where 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.   

Currently, [[Alaska]] is the only state that permits control of wolf populations, due to the prolific reproduction rates in that isolated [[Arctic]] area.  Under the current policy, it is legal to shoot wolves from low flying airplanes, due to the state's very limited roads. Wolves and bears are very effective and efficient predators of caribou, moose, deer and other wildlife. In most of Alaska, humans also rely on the same species for food. In Alaska's Interior, predators kill more than 80% of the moose and caribou that die during an average year, while humans kill less than 10 percent. In most of the state, predation holds prey populations at levels far below what could be supported by the habitat in the area. Predation is an important part of the ecosystem, and all Alaska Department of Fish and Game wolf management programs, including control programs, are designed to sustain wolf populations in the future.  Currently (2009), five wolf control programs are underway that comprises about 9.4% of Alaska's total land area. <ref>[http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wolf.control Wolf Control in Alaska; Alaska Dept. of Wildlife Conservation]</ref>

Currently, [[Alaska]] is the only state that permits control of wolf populations, due to the prolific reproduction rates in that isolated [[Arctic]] area.  Under the current policy, it is legal to shoot wolves from low flying airplanes, due to the state's very limited roads. Wolves and bears are very effective and efficient predators of caribou, moose, deer and other wildlife. In most of Alaska, humans also rely on the same species for food. In Alaska's Interior, predators kill more than 80% of the moose and caribou that die during an average year, while humans kill less than 10 percent. In most of the state, predation holds prey populations at levels far below what could be supported by the habitat in the area. Predation is an important part of the ecosystem, and all Alaska Department of Fish and Game wolf management programs, including control programs, are designed to sustain wolf populations in the future.  Currently (2009), five wolf control programs are underway that comprises about 9.4% of Alaska's total land area. <ref>[http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wolf.control Wolf Control in Alaska; Alaska Dept. of Wildlife Conservation]</ref>

*[[Never Cry Wolf]] - drama about a scientist who proved that wolves can live on rodents

*[[Never Cry Wolf]] - drama about a scientist who proved that wolves can live on rodents

*[http://mfile.akamai.com/27176/wmv/nationalpark.download.akamai.com/27176/prod/yell/photosmultimedia/video/insideyell/wmvs/256/0042a_coyote_or_wolf_256.asx Coyote or Wolf?], Videos © 2008 Yellowstone Association  

*[http://mfile.akamai.com/27176/wmv/nationalpark.download.akamai.com/27176/prod/yell/photosmultimedia/video/insideyell/wmvs/256/0042a_coyote_or_wolf_256.asx Coyote or Wolf?], Videos © 2008 Yellowstone Association  

[[Category:Canines]]

[[Category:Canines]]

[[Category:Animals]]

[[Category:Animals]]

[[Category:Biblical Animals]]

[[Category:Biblical Animals]]