Basic Information about the wolf
Generally a pack has six or eight wolves, but in Alaska and northwestern Canada some packs have included over 30 members. The size of a pack can range between two and fifteen in the Great Lakes states. Pack sizes are highly variable because of birth of pups, dispersal and mortality.
Adult female wolves in northern Minnesota weigh between 50 and 85 pounds, and adult males between 70 and 110 pounds. The record for a wolf in Alaska is 170 pounds.
A pack is usually a family group of wolves with a pair of adult parents, the Alpha pair, and their offspring of perhaps the last 2 or 3 years. The adult parents are usually unrelated, if not always.
An average wolf litter size is five to six pups each spring, but several may die depending on availability of prey
Wolves prey primarily on large, hoofed mammals, the white-tailed deer is the wolf's primary prey, with moose, beaver and snowshoe hair also being taken. Elsewhere, wolves prey on caribou, musk oxen, bison, Dall sheep, elk, mountain goats, etc.
The massive molars and powerful jaws of a wolf are used to crush the bones of its prey. The biting capacity of a wolf is 1,500 pounds of pressure per square inch. The strength of a wolf's jaws make it possible to bite through a moose femur, the upper leg bone, in six to eight bites. In comparison, a German shepherd has a biting pressure of 750 pounds per square inch. A human has a much biting pressure of 300 pounds per square inch.
Wolves usual travel speed is about five miles per hour. Wolves have been estimated to run at speeds of 25 to 35 miles per hour. Wolves maintain speeds of 25 to 35 miles per hour only for a limited and rest for at least 10 to 15 minuted afterward. The average distance traveled in a day is 10 to 15 miles, but wolves can travel over 30 miles in a day.
Wolves in the wild may have an average life span of six to eight years. Some lived up to 13 years and possibly longer. Most die before the reach eight years of age because ot hunters. The natural causes of wolf death are primarily starvation which takes mostly pups, and death from other wolves in territorial disputes. In most wolf populations, disease is not a problem. Injuries from prey cause some deaths but not a very high percentage.
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