Though there are many subspecies of wolf but generally there are three types of wolves namely red wolf, gray wolf and Ethiopian wolf. Let’s study each of these three types of wolves in detail.
Three Types Of Wolves
Red Wolf Facts For Kids | Facts About Red Wolf
Red wolf belongs to the dog family Canidae. A smaller and fairly thin body, this species of wolf falls in between Coyote and Gray Wolf.
With dark spots and foggy shade all over it, the body also gives a cherry appearance which is why it is known as red wolf.
The legs of these mammals are long and there is not much fleece over the body.
The female wolves are normally shorter than their counterparts by almost ten percent.
They are more active during the late hours of darkness or at the crack of dawn.
Red wolf usually lives in groups or packs.
The litter of red wolf carries three to eight children. These pups stay within packs until they reach at the age of almost 18 months.
The reproduction period begins in January and lasts till March of every year.
Out of all three red wolf’s subspecies, only one survives today thanks to the efficient captive breeding scheme by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1973.
Back in 1980, it was believed that red wolf was wiped out.
According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service reports, almost three hundred of this wolf was left behind in 2007.
What Do Red Wolves Eat | Red Wolf Diet
Although red wolves fancy eating mammals like coypu, nutria, rodents, rabbits and raccoon more often, they also like to dine bugs and berries. Sometimes the happy meal of red wolf also consists of a deer having white tail. Some experts say that red wolves also occasionally fuel up on a dead animal’s meat.
Where Do Red Wolves Live | Habitat Of Red Wolf
Red wolves usually live in woodland, swamps, marshlands and jungle.
Quick Guide To Red Wolf Facts For Kids
Total size with tail: 111 cm to 165 cm
Average weight: 54 lb or almost 24 kg
Size of tail: 30 cm to 43 cm
Gray Wolf Facts For Kids | Facts About Gray Wolf
Gray wolf belongs to the family of dogs with others like jackals, coyotes and foxes.
Gray wolf is certainly the biggest dogs in the family.
The pups of gray wolf have an initial weight of about 1 pound.
Scientifically, these types of wolves are known as ‘Canis lupus’.
Typically gray wolf survives for about maximum eight years.
Majority of gray wolves live in regions like Asia, Canada and Alaska. Some of them also live in Europe.
They are extremely clever predators and can easily hit down their victims which may even be 10 times bigger than their own size.
Typically, the pack of gray wolf ranges from five to twelve wolves.
A pack is led by alpha male and female.
A gray wolf matures at about three years of age.
Only 30 to 50 wolves of this species are left behind in Egypt which makes them highly vulnerable.
What Do Gray Wolves Eat | Gray Wolf Diet
Typically gray wolves stalk big animals like white-tailed, roe and red deer, mountain goat, elk, caribou, moose and bison. But the happy meal of gray wolf also consists of birds, beaver, wild goat, ibex, mouflon, chamois, argali and even hare as well.
Quick Guide To Gray Wolf Facts For Kids
Total size with tail: 105 cm to 160 cm
Average weight (European wolf): 85 lb or almost 38 kg
Average weight (North American wolf): 79 lb or 36kg
Average weight (Arabian and Indian wolf): 55 lb or 25kg
Size of tail: 29 cm to 50 cm
Three Types of Wolves
Ethiopian Wolf Facts For Kids
- In the family of Canidae, Ethiopian wolves are certainly on the brink of extinction because there are merely five hundred wolves of this kind living in their natural habitat.
- No other wolf species live in Africa except Ethiopian wolf.
- There are just two subspecies of Ethiopian wolf known today.
- They belong to Ethiopian highlands.
- They bear a close resemblance to Coyote (North America) as far as outward appearance is concerned.
- As the breeding spell arrives, the female wolves change their shade from orangey to yellow streaks.
- A female Ethiopian wolf is typically twenty percent smaller than its counterparts.
- Typically a pack of Ethiopian wolf consists of six wolves but at times it may also reach twenty wolves. Most of these wolves are more than one year old.
- Ethiopian wolves do not snooze within their dens rather they visit only to nurture the pups.
- Every litter is full of about two to six pups of Ethiopian wolf.
- The pups leave their den as soon as they reach 21 days after they are born.
- The age of a fully grown pup of Ethiopian wolf is about 24 months.
- Bale Mountains National Park is home to maximum number of Ethiopian wolves.
- These wolves make the rounds at daybreak and noontime while put their feet up during darkness.
- They mark their territories and guard them from other groups by communicating with each other in a rather hostile way.
- It is a highly social carnivore and usually stalks small animals like rodents
- During the period of 1990s, majority of these species were killed due to rabies.
Where Do Ethiopian Wolves Live | Ethiopian Wolf Habitat
These kinds of wolves usually make their homes in Afroalpine lowlands where rodents live. Ideally, they live at a height of about 3,000 to 4,500 meters. The grazing lands and shrubs of Bale Mountains (like Alchemilla plants) form but an integral part of their habitat.
What Do Ethiopian Wolves Eat | Ethiopian Wolf Diet
Typically, the happy menu of these wolves consists of different kinds of rats (like mole, vlei and grass rats) and also hare and sometimes eggs and gosling. Some experts have also spotted them to stalk mountain nyala and rock hyrax for a couple of times.
Quick Guide To Ethiopian Wolf Facts For Kids
Total size with tail: 83 cm to 99 cm
Average weight (males): 37 lb or almost 16 kg
Average weight (females): 28 lb or almost 12 kg
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