Gray Wolf

The gray wolf is one of the world's best known and well researched animals, with probably more books written about it than any other wildlife species. It has a long history of association with humans, having been despised and hunted in most pastoral communities due to its attacks on livestock, while conversely being respected in some agrarian and hunter-gatherer societies. Although the fear of wolves is pervasive in many human societies, the majority of recorded attacks on people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies. Non-rabid wolves have attacked and killed people, mainly children, but this is unusual, as wolves are relatively few, live away from people, and have been taught to fear humans by hunters and shepherds.

The gray wolf is a habitat generalist, and can occur in deserts, grasslands, forests and arctic tundras.

The gray wolf generally specializes in vulnerable individuals of large prey and supplement their diet with fruit and vegetable matter.

The gray wolf is generally monogamous, with mated pairs usually remaining together for life, unless one of the pair dies. The average litter consists of 5–6 pups.