Northern subspecies of wolf are perhaps among the hardiest animals on Earth. Consider this: for five months of the year they live in almost total darkness in the icy cold. The wolf can not eat for a week, and then devour at once 14 kilograms of prey, along with skin, bones and fur.

It runs up to 20 kilometers per day in search of food, and makes its den in the frozen ground, among cold stones. Wolves have settled in the most barren part of our planet, where in March the temperature drops to -30 ° Celsius. It seems impossible to survive in such conditions, but these animals have been living here for hundreds of years.

Not all wolves are gray. Researchers distinguish from 12 to 16 subspecies of this predator, differing in color and size. The tundra wolf has a light-colored and relatively long soft fur. This is one of the largest subspecies: the weight of males reaches 66 kg. The range of this animal covers the tundra, forest tundra and northern taiga zones of Eurasia, as well as Kamchatka. In the Yano-Indigirskaya lowland it can be found in a narrow strip along the shore of the Arctic Ocean and to the south in sparse forests.

STRONG JAWS, STOMACHS OF STEEL

Wolves have adapted to eat whatever comes their way. On the coasts, they eat the corpses of seals, fish and marine invertebrates washed up by waves. On the mainland they catch lemmings, ravage bird nests, eating eggs and chicks, attack moulting geese and ducks, hares and foxes. But this food helps them to survive, and to survive, especially in winter, wolves need larger prey. During the migration of wild reindeer, predators follow the herd, killing young and weakened animals. This is a real feast for wolves: after eating one victim, they immediately start searching for a new one. For the winter, they move after reindeer from the tundra to the taiga.

Wolves are versatile hunters. They have a keen sense of smell, excellent hearing and good eyesight. The tundra wolf has massive powerful jaws, which easily chew bones. The animals hunt in a pack, each member of which has its own task: there are corralers, there are attackers. Moving in search of food, wolves follow each other in a chain. Each animal puts its paws exactly in the trail of the previous one. To an inexperienced tracker, it may appear that only one wolf has passed.

SHALL WE TALK?

Wolves communicate by making a wide variety of sounds.Scientists and ethologists divide them into contact and distant sounds.The former are used when communicating closely with their kin.This is snorting (warns wolves of danger), whining (puppies express discomfort with this sound, adults - friendly mood), growling (in aggression), squealing (in pain or fear).Distant sounds include barking (alarm and warning to strangers) and howling - the most varied and widespread sound in dogs.By it you can easily determine the age status of the animal in the pack.A mature male howls bassistically and long, an adult she-wolf - higher and shorter, more lilting, year-old animals - long and tedious. Puppies bark and howl.

The wolf howl can be heard at a distance of 2-3 km.It serves to unite the pack and warns outsiders that the territory is occupied.In addition, the she-wolf howls to gather her cubs, informing them that she has brought them prey.

Animals communicate not only through sounds.Wolves can tell each other a lot, taking certain poses.By wagging its tail, pinning its ears and stretching its mouth in a "smile", the animal demonstrates goodwill.

By lowering its head, grinning and fluffing up the hair on its back, it shows an aggressive attitude. Demonstrating submission, the wolf lies on its back and exposes its most vulnerable place - the belly. This posture can stop the aggressive behavior of the enemy.

Odors play an important role in wolf communication. Urinary markings are both the boundaries of the pack's territory and a claim to capture new lands.Their odor can tell about the rank of the animal, about sexual hunting in females.The number of tags increases during the rut.

CRUEL ORDERS

Tundra wolves live in small packs, which consist of an adult pair and young from the last litter. Sometimes they are joined by single animals, they occupy a subordinate position.At the head of the pack is an adult male, he is assisted by an alpha female, and the young and newcomers are subordinate to them. The laws in the North are harsh: it is impossible for the pack to feed many mouths, and the leader tends to leave only his offspring, so only a couple of leaders breed in the pack. Other members of the pack, having decided to form a family, leave the pack.

PRIVILEGED YOUTH

In March-April, the tundra wolf begins its rut. The male and female separate from the pack and spend all their time together. Wolves are monogamous, their pair is formed once and for life.Pregnancy lasts 61-63 days.Just before giving birth, the she-wolf searches for a den. Often she digs it herself, but if the ground freezes hard, the female finds a natural shelter - an old burrow, a rock crevice - and there gives birth to 4 to 6 cubs.

The cubs are born blind and deaf.The she-wolf is a caring mother: she warms the newborns, licks them and feeds them milk.At first she does not leave the den for a minute, and food is brought to her by the male.At two weeks of age, the pups open their eyes and ears.After about a month, wolf cubs can already eat burps of half-digested meat brought to them by the male, female and other pack members.This is very important for the cubs' digestion: together with food, the necessary enzymes enter the gastrointestinal tract. If there is plenty of food, the cubs grow quickly and already at the end of June they leave the den and follow the adult wolves.

The period from birth to one year is the most difficult and dangerous. During this time, wolf cubs are very vulnerable. In the absence of parents, a wolverine or a bear may visit the den and eat all the cubs. Wolves under a year of age are called incoming, from a year to two - pereyarka.

Both can become easy prey for hunters, because they do not yet have the stamina and experience of adults.In the first year of life up to 70% of pups die, even if there was plenty of food.The young occupy a special social status in the pack: adult wolves treat them very friendly.

TUNDRA WOLF IN THE FOOD CHAIN

The wolf, like many large strong predators, is at the top of the food chain.Apart from humans, it has no enemies.Pups can be eaten by wolverine or bear, but this does not happen very often.

TUNDRA WOLF DIET

SIBERIAN LEMMING

A representative of the genus of true lemmings. It is a small rodent well adapted to life in the tundra and forest tundra.The lemming has a dense build, small ears, and a short tail.It feeds on herbaceous vegetation and mosses.Rodents are active all year round and breed even in winter, under snow, periodically giving large outbreaks of numbers. Lemmings form the basis of food of many feathered and four-legged predators of the tundra.Even wolves can feed on them in years of high numbers.

WHITE HORSE

The hare with a body length of up to 65 cm is a typical inhabitant of northern Eurasia. Tundras are inhabited by very large squirrels weighing up to 6 kg. The hare has wide paws covered with fur underneath, which allows it to move easily in the snow. Twice a year he changes color: in summer his coat is uniformly gray, in winter white. This allows the hare to camouflage and hide from predators. It feeds on grass, bark of trees and bushes. Brings offspring once a year.

NORTHERN DEER

A large hoofed animal with a withers height of 80-140 cm and a weight of 100-220 kg. Both males and females have horns. It feeds on lichens, shrub branches and herbaceous vegetation. The main food in winter is jagel, which the reindeer extracts even from under the snow. In spring the animals move to the tundra, and in the fall - to forest tundra and taiga. The rut takes place in September-October. Females give birth to one calf. Wild and domestic reindeer form a significant part of the diet of tundra wolves.

WHITE PARTRIDGE

A bird of the ptarmigan family of the pheasant family. Inhabitant of taiga, tundra and forests of the Northern Hemisphere. Coloration depends on the season: winter plumage is white, in spring males' head and neck become brick-brown, in summer and autumn birds of both sexes are equally mottled, brownish-red. The partridge keeps and feeds on the ground, taking off in case of danger. In summer it feeds on leaves, seeds and berries, in winter - on buds and shoots of trees. In the cold season it sleeps under the snow, in so-called holes.

INTERESTING FACTS

The north of Eurasia and North America is home to the largest subspecies. The weight of a male polar wolf can reach 80 kg. Small representatives of the species inhabit the dry steppes, semi-deserts and deserts of Central Asia and North America. The smallest animals live in the Middle East: the weight of the male Arabian wolf does not exceed 24 kg.

A wolf pack is a very complex social structure based on a linear hierarchy. The subtleties of the relationships between its members are of keen interest to ethologists. The pack leader (alpha male) enjoys unquestionable authority. But in a large pack there may be several other high-ranking wolves, which help the leader to maintain order and instantly suppress attempts of "rebellion" on the part of low-ranking individuals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Class: mammals.
Division: carnivores.
Family: hounds.
Genus: wolves.
Species: common or gray wolf.
Subspecies: tundra wolf.
Latin name: Canis lupus albus.
Size: length without tail: 123-132 cm.
Weight: male 49-66 kg.
Coloration: varies from gray-white with a barely noticeable red tint to zonal gray, darker in summer than in winter.
Life expectancy of the tundra wolf: up to 10 years.