Arctic Wolf
Among the thirty-two recognised subspecies of the gray wolf
are several circumpolar subspecies known as Arctic or tundra wolves. The wolf
of the Canadian Arctic islands, Canis lupus arctos, is most commonly referred
to as the Arctic wolf. The local people have their own names for these white wolves:
Amarok (Inuit), Amagok (Inuvialuit), and Amaguk (Inupiat).
In the northern parts of their mainland range, wolves vary
greatly in colour. In the northern Arctic islands, wolves may be pure white or
white with blackish or reddish markings, especially on the shoulders and tail.
Pups are usually darker in colour for their first year of life. In winter the
wolf coat consists of a dense underfur that provides suitable insulation, plus
the coarser outer coat for protection and warmth. With warmer summer temperatures,
the extra wool is shed, leading to a period of distinctly shaggy appearance.
Adult females weigh 18 to 55 kg and adult males 20 to 80 kg
depending on the subspecies. The total length (nose to tip of tail) ranges from
1.37 to 1.52 m for females, and 1.27 to 1.64 m for males.
The gray wolf is a social animal and functions in a group,
or pack, that is basically a family group of five to eight wolves. Packs are held
together by strong ties between the members, reinforced as pups grow up together
or by courtship behaviour between two mature adults. Order within a pack is maintained
by a dominance hierarchy system in which the adult male is dominant to the adult
female and pups.
Wolves communicate through posture, howling and other vocalizations,
and through scent-marking. Howling serves to assemble the pack, advertise the
occupation and extent of the pack's territory, or express distress or contentment.
Scent-marking involves depositing urine or feces on conspicuous objects within
a pack's range and probably plays a role in advertising territory.
Wolves breed once a year in the spring. Litters of five or
six pups are born after a gestation period of nine weeks. Wolf pups are born in
a den dug by the female in soft soil. Dens in the Arctic are often traditional
sites and used for hundreds of years. Pups remain within the den for about two
weeks, then begin venturing outside. Adults carry meat back to the pups at the
den site in their stomachs, and disgorge it for the pups. During late summer the
pups are moved from the birth den to rendezvous sites where the pack spends much
time. In the fall, the pups begin to accompany the adults on some hunting trips.
The curiosity and playfulness associated with life around the den decreases when
they begin travelling.
Wolf pups on the Arctic islands face the hardships of nomadic
life much earlier than temperate region wolves since they leave the summer den
sites or homesites by mid-July. After that time the adults set a gruelling pace
for the pups as they begin travelling with the pack.
The major prey species of the wolf are the large ungulates:
moose, caribou, and muskoxen. When attacking large prey, wolves use various strategies,
but their success rate is low. Wolves also feed regularly on smaller mammals and
in summer on the many species of birds that come to the Arctic to breed.
Arctic wolves normally cover great distances in their search
for food, travelling alone, in pairs or in packs of up to fifteen wolves. Territory
size varies with different habitats and depends on the numbers and kinds of prey
available. Wolves will fight when neighbouring packs trespass on their territory.
Mortality among northern wolf pups during their first winter
is high. Injuries are suffered during attacks on large prey and can be fatal.
Wolves also suffer from many parasites and diseases. Other mortality factors include
starvation, attacks on lone intruders, and all the various methods that humans
have invented for killing wolves. Consequently, ten years is an old age for wolves
in the wild. The Arctic wolf is not officially listed as endangered or vulnerable,
though the numbers of wolves on the Arctic islands are low.
In the Canadian Arctic, Inuit hunters encouraged their sled
dogs to breed with wolves to retain their desirable characteristics. Wolves have
always been trapped and hunted throughout the north for their pelts for use in
making or trimming clothing. Though not normally hunted for food,
wolf meat is occasionally used.
There have been strange close encounters between Arctic wolves
and people where the wolves could easily have inflicted damage, had they wished.
A rare attack by a wolf with rabies occurred in 1995 at CFS Alert, a military
station on northern Ellesmere Island. One individual was knocked down by a wolf,
and two others were bitten.
On the positive side, the wolf has become a popular symbol of wilderness and an
attraction for thousands of visitors to northern national and territorial parks.
 
|
