Things You Should Know About Dog Part 6

Grey wolves are the largest wild members of the dog family. However, there are not many grey wolves left in the wild because their habitats have been destroyed by humans. Wolves have also beenhunted for centuries, partly because people are scared of them even thougth it is very rare for a wolf to attack a human. Grey wolves mate towards the end of the winter and litters of 2 to 10 pups are born 9 weeks later. Other females in the pack help to look after the pups.

Grey wolves live in familiy groups. Eah group is called a pack and ussually contains between 8 and 12 wolves, altough some packs may have up to 20 members. Each pack has a leader, called the alpha wolf. The alpha wolf is ussually a female and she rules the group. The alpha female and her mate are the only wolves that have cubs.

Grey wolves work as a group to catch their prey. By hunting together, the wolves can chase, attack and kill animals that are much larger than themselves, such as moose and caribou. They also eat small animals including beavers, hares, and rabbits. Wolves find their prey using their powerful senses of smell and hearing.

There may be as few as 100 red wolves alive in the wild today. Red wolves are smaller than their grey cousins and they only live in North Carolina, USA. They mostly eat mice, rats and rabbits but they will also eat berries and insects.