gray wolf

(Canis lupus)

Conservation Status
gray wolf
Photo by Ramona Abrego
  IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

 
  NatureServe

N4 - Apparently Secure

S3 - Vulnerable

 
  Federal

Threatened

In 1966 Congress passed the Endangered Species Preservation Act. A year later the gray wolf was classified as endangered. At that time only a few hundred remained in extreme northeastern Minnesota and a small number on Isle Royale, Michigan. In 1978 it was reclassified as threatened.

 
   

In 2012 gray wolf was delisted due to a significant increase in their numbers and their range. The delisting was controversial. In 2014 a federal judge forced the reinstatement of the wolf, and it was relisted as threatened. In January 2021 it was again removed from the protected species list.

Following a court order on 2/10/2022, “…gray wolves in the contiguous 48 states and Mexico – with the exception of the Northern Rocky Mountain population – are now protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as threatened in Minnesota and endangered in the remaining states.”. The court order has been appealed by a number of parties. The appeals are in abeyance until 2/2/2024, when the USFWS "… intends to submit to the Office of the Federal Register a proposed rule concerning the listing status of gray wolves in the lower-48 United States under the Act.”

 
  Minnesota

delisted

In 1984, the gray wolf was classified as threatened in Minnesota only. Due to continued increase in their numbers it was reclassified as special concern in 1996 and delisted in 2013.

 
             
 
Description
 
 

Eastern wolf (C. l. lycaon), also called timber wolf, is relatively small, with males weighing on average 67 pounds and females 53 pounds. They have longer ears and a narrower snout. They tend to be mottled gray.

Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus) is much larger, with males weighing on average 100 pounds. They have shorter ears and a broader snout. They can vary from black to white, though most are gray.

Great Lakes boreal wolf (C. l. lycaon x C. l. nubilus) mostly has intermediate traits, grading from more C. l. lycaon-like in the east to more C. l. nubilus-like in the west.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Total length: 59 to 62

Tail: 15½ to 18

 
     
 

Sign

 
 

 

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Any type of habitat

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Lifespan

 
 

Usually 6 to 8 years

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

 

 
     
 

Food

 
 

Mostly white-tailed deer, but also beaver, other mammals, and wild fruits.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 7, 24, 29, 30, 76.

Minnesota DNR; The Nature Conservancy; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Distribution and Abundance of Wolves in Minnesota, 2012-13, John Erb and Barry Sampson, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Minnesota DNR; The Nature Conservancy; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Distribution and Abundance of Wolves in Minnesota, 2017-18, John Erb, Carolin Humpal, and Barry Sampson, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

 
  8/7/2023    
       
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Locally common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Class Mammalia (mammals)  
  Subclass Theria  
  Infraclass Eutheria (placental mammals)  
  Magnorder Boreoeutheria  
  Superorder Laurasiatheria (ungulates, carnivorans, and allies)  
  Order Carnivora (carnivorans)  
  Suborder Caniformia (dog-like carnivores)  
 

Family

Canidae (canids)  
 

Genus

Canis (wolves and dogs)  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

Debate continues about whether there are different species of gray wolves in the world. In 2000, Wilson et al proposed designating the eastern wolf as a separate species, Canis lycaon. This proposal was not widely adopted.

Eastern wolf (C. l. lycaon), also called timber wolf, was originally found in the northeastern corner of the state. Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus) was originally found in the western counties, with hybrids occurring between the two. The dispersal ranges of the two subspecies overlap considerably and much hybridization occurs. The original genetic purity of the eastern and western population remains unknown. While is likely that genetically pure populations occur at the ends of the respective Minnesota ranges, the current Minnesota population consists mostly of hybrids of the two subspecies, known informally as Great Lakes boreal wolf, with more C. l. nubilus traits in the west and more C. l. lycaon traits in the east.

 
     
 

Alaskan tundra wolf (Canis lupus tundrarum)

Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni)

Arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs)

Arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos)

Baffin Island wolf (Canis lupus manningi)

Bernard’s wolf (Canis lupus bernardi)

British Columbia wolf (Canis lupus columbianus)

Cascade Mountain wolf (Canis lupus fuscus)

dingo (Canis lupus dingo)

domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

eastern wolf (Canis lupus lycaon)

Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus)

Florida black wolf (Canis lupus floridanus)

Gansu wolf (Canis lupus filchneri)

Great Lakes boreal wolf (Canis lupus lycaon x Canis lupus nubilus)

Great Plains wolf (Canis lupus nubilus)

Greenland wolf (Canis lupus orion)

Gregory’s wolf (Canis lupus gregoryi)

Hokkaidō wolf (Canis lupus hattai)

Honshū wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax)

Hudson Bay wolf (Canis lupus hudsonicus)

Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes)

Kenai Peninsula wolf (Canis lupus alces)

Labrador wolf (Canis lupus labradorius)

Mackenzie River wolf (Canis lupus mackenzii)

Manitoba wolf (Canis lupus griseoalbus)

Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)

Mogollon Mountain wolf (Canis lupus mogollonensis)

Newfoundland wolf (Canis lupus beothucus)

Northern Rocky Mountains wolf (Canis lupus irremotus)

Northwestern wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis)

Red wolf (Canis lupus rufus)

Southern Rocky Mountains wolf (Canis lupus youngi)

Steppe wolf (Canis lupus campestris)

Texas wolf (Canis lupus monstrabilis)

Tibetan woolly wolf (Canis lupus chanco)

tundra wolf (Canis lupus albus)

Vancouver Island wolf (Canis lupus crassodon)

Yukon wolf (Canis lupus pambasileus)

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

gray wolf

wolf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

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Mike Poeppe

 
 

Coyote/wolf

I found this pair about 6 miles south of Houston on Thursday morning. I am not sure if they are wolves or coyote? They were out about 1/2 mile and sure looked big for out that far.

  coyote or gray wolf  
 

Kim

 
 

walking down country road like it owned it. Never stopped never looked around just kept going

this was at 645 am

  gray wolf  
 

Ramona Abrego

 
 

Captive – Wildlife Science Center

 
    gray wolf   gray wolf  
           
    gray wolf   gray wolf  
           
    gray wolf   gray wolf  
           
    gray wolf   gray wolf  
           
    gray wolf   gray wolf  
           
    gray wolf   gray wolf  
           
    gray wolf      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
Gray Wolf
Craig A. Mullenbach
  Gray Wolf  
 
About

This is a Gray Wolf named Sheriff from the Minnesota Wildlife Connection. He was brought in to be photographed at the Spring Break event held by the Twin Cities Area Counsel of Camera Clubs.

 

 

slideshow

       
 
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Other Videos
 
  The Wolves
Krecika1988
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Mar 12, 2007

The Gray Wolf (Canis lupus; also spelled Grey Wolf, see spelling differences; also known as Timber Wolf or Wolf) is a mammal in the order Carnivora. The Gray Wolf shares a common ancestry with the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), as evidenced by DNA sequencing and genetic drift studies. Gray wolves were once abundant and distributed over much of North America, Eurasia, and the Middle East. Today, for a variety of human-related reasons, including widespread habitat destruction and excessive hunting, wolves inhabit only a very limited portion of their former range. Though listed as a species of least concern for extinction worldwide, for some regions including the Continental United States, the species is listed as endangered or threatened.

IF U LOVE WOLVES PLZ ENJOY IT!! SAVE THEM!!

   
  Timberwolf (Canis lupus lycaon) [HQ]
Kanal von AnimalPlanetH
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jun 10, 2010

Timberwölfe beim Fressen (Zoo Hannover)

   
  Wolves, Ely Minnesota 2008
marinacastillo
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Dec 27, 2008

Wolves, Ely Minnesota 2008

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this mammal.

 
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  Mike Poeppe
12/22/2023

Location: 6 miles south of Houston, MN

I found this pair about 6 miles south of Houston on Thursday morning. I am not sure if they are wolves or coyote? They were out about 1/2 mile and sure looked big for out that far.

coyote or gray wolf

 
  Kim
8/7/2023

Location: Faribault, MN

walking down country road like it owned it. Never stopped never looked around just kept going

this was at 6:45 am

gray wolf  
  Ramona Abrego

Location: Wildlife Science Center

Captive

gray wolf

 
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

Nemadji State Forest

 

 

 

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