Grey Wolves walking on grass
MEET THE ANIMALS

Grey Wolf

  • The Red River Zoo wolf pack has two adult wolves and 4 new wolf pups.
  • The mother of the wolf pups was a member of our original wolf pack.
  • Our Grey Wolves are in The Spirits of the Forest Grey Wolf Exhibit, which first opened in 2008.

What do I look like?

I am related to the dog, so you can see the family resemblance. I have a grizzled coat with gray, black, and light brown fur. I have fur on my legs and belly that is white-yellow in color. I have long legs and large paws.

What do I eat?

I am a carnivore, so I have to catch my own meat to survive. I usually prey on large, hoofed mammals called ungulates. I like to eat deer, bison, elk, caribou, musk ox and Dall sheep, but I will still prey on smaller animals like beavers and rabbits.

Where do I live?

I used to live all over the northern hemisphere, but now I can only be found in patches in North America, Europe and northern Asia. The only significant requirements for wolf habitat are available prey and room to roam. This means I can live in lots of different habitats: open grasslands or prairies, forests, and even the frozen tundra of the arctic.

How big is my family?

I live in a family group called a “pack.” A typical pack can range from 2 to 15 wolves. Sometimes my pack can have more than 30 members before those members go off to join different packs with new territories.

Did You Know?

A wild wolf leads a feast or famine lifestyle; he won’t eat every day and may go several days without a meal. When a kill is made, a single wolf has been known to eat up to 22 pounds of meat in one sitting! That’s like eating more than 80 hamburgers.

Wolves’ communication and pack interactions contain some of the most intriguing forms of animal behavior. Various vocalizations, body postures, scent marking, and hunting tactics are all important for wolf pack order.

Currently, there are at least 4 different types (subspecies) of grey wolves in North America and despite their reputation as a threat to humans, there are actually very few documented attacks by wolves on humans.

Wolves hunt in packs and can catch animals much larger than they are. Wolves typically capture and kill only 5-10% of the prey they actively hunt.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Canidae

Genus: Canis

Species: Lupus

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