Interesting Facts

HUNTING

Arctic Wolves are pretty amazing creatures.  They live in the arctic tundra, which can have very harsh conditions.  Food is often scarce, so Arctic Wolves need to be very resourceful.  They eat the skin, fur, and bones of their prey (along with the meat of course), because they cannot afford to waste anything.  The Arctic Wolf can also stomach a full 20 pounds of meat at one time.  Arctic Wolves also have to be very fast to catch their food.  At top speed, the animals can reach 40 mph.

This might not be its wild top speed, but this wolf is still enjoying running about the snow

Arctic Wolf Running at 40 mph

PACKS

Arctic Wolves live and hunt in packs – they are not solitary creatures.   To catch a caribou, or other form of prey, a whole pack of wolves is needed.  In search of prey, a pack can cover 800 square miles.  But on its own, a lone wolf would die, because it does not have the capability of catching prey by itself.  Arctic Wolf packs usually contain up to 30 members.

Arctic Wolf Pack

MATES AND CHILDREN

Arctic wolves mate for life.  When a female gives birth, it is the duty of her mate to bring her food.  She will leave the pack for this process and birth her children in a den.  The gestation period of a wolf is only 63 days, unlike the human 266.  The pups are completely blind, deaf, and helpless when they are born!

Two adorable wolf mates

FUN & RANDOM THINGS

The arctic wolf also has the fascinating capability to live in total and complete darkness for up to five months.   While most people know that wolves communicate via howling, they also communicate using tails and specific movements meaning different things.