Are there red wolves? Red wolf (photo): A dangerous predator with an unusual appearance. How long do guars live

RED WOLF(Canis rufus) is by far the rarest member of the wolf genus. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was widespread in the southeastern United States, but its active extermination by man led to the almost complete destruction of the species. The remaining two dozen individuals were caught and placed in nurseries, where it was possible to create conditions for their reproduction. Today, the red wolf population reaches 300 individuals, some of which were released into their natural habitat in the state of North Carolina.
The main habitat of the species is hard-to-reach mountainous and swampy areas covered with forests. Smaller proportions distinguish it from its closest relative, the red wolf: its legs and ears are longer, and its fur is shorter. The body length of an adult varies from 100 to 130 cm, another 30-40 cm falls on the tail hanging down with a log, the height at the withers reaches 80 cm. Males are on average 10% larger than females. The color of the predator is dominated by gray-brown tones with an admixture of black and brown. The red hue of the coat, from which the wolf got its name, is especially clearly visible in winter. Full molt occurs in summer. Sometimes this predator is mistakenly called, which is a representative of a completely different species.
leads a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle. Individuals live in small groups, consisting of a dominant pair and their offspring of different ages. Harmony reigns in intergroup relations, but predators are aggressive towards representatives of other clans. Animals use body language, pheromones, sounds, and touch to communicate with each other.
The mating season for the red wolf runs from January to March. After pregnancy, lasting 60-63 days, the female from the dominant pair brings an average of 3 to 6 puppies. Both the male and the female, as well as the rest of the pack, take part in the upbringing of the offspring. At the age of one year, wolf cubs become completely independent, at the same time they reach puberty.
Like all other representatives of the wolf family, the red wolf is a carnivore. The basis of its diet is rodents and small ungulates: raccoons, white-tailed deer, rabbits, wild boars, etc. Predators stay in one place for no more than 7-10 days, after which they move to another area to hunt. Red wolves themselves, in turn, can become victims of other predators: coyotes, lynxes, large birds of prey, alligators, and even relatives from other packs. But the biggest danger for this beast was a man who almost completely exterminated this species. In nature, the red wolf lives for about 4 years; in captivity, a case was recorded when an individual lived for 14 years.

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The rarest member of the wolf family, the red wolf once inhabited much of the eastern United States, from Pennsylvania to Texas. However, in the 20th century, due to extermination, habitat destruction and hybridization with coyotes, red wolves were on the verge of extinction. Their range was first reduced to the extreme southwest of Louisiana and southeast Texas, and by the end of the 70s of the XX century, red wolves completely disappeared in nature, and only individuals remained in zoos and nurseries. Since 1988, work has been underway to return red wolves to their natural habitat - in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Appearance

Red wolves differ from their closest relative, the gray wolf, in their smaller size. The red wolf is slimmer, with longer legs and ears, and shorter fur. However, it is larger than a coyote: its body length is 100-130 cm, tail - 30-42 cm, height at the withers - 66-79 cm. Adult males weigh 20-41 kg, females, as a rule, are 1/3 lighter.

The color of the fur is red, brown, gray and black. The back is usually black. The muzzle and limbs are reddish, the end of the tail is black. The red coloration from which the species got its name was predominant among the Texan populations. Red fur also dominates in winter. The annual molt occurs in summer.

Lifestyle and nutrition

In terms of lifestyle, the red wolf is close to the common wolf. Initially, they lived in forests, on swampy lowlands and on coastal prairies; were nocturnal. Red wolves are now being repopulated in hard-to-reach mountainous and swampy areas.

Packs of red wolves are smaller than those of gray wolves; they consist of a family (breeding) couple and their offspring, both young and grown. Sometimes families get bigger. There are practically no manifestations of aggression in the family, however, family members are unfriendly towards unfamiliar wolves.

The food of the red wolf is predominantly rodents (including nutrias and muskrats), rabbits and raccoons; occasionally a flock catches a deer. In addition to the diet are insects and berries, as well as carrion.

In turn, red wolves can become victims of other wolves, including relatives from other packs, alligators or cougars. Young animals are preyed upon by predators such as bobcats.

reproduction

Red wolves live in families in which only dominant pairs breed. A pair, like other wolves, is created for a long time. The remaining members of the group help raise the offspring and bring food for lactating wolves.

The breeding season runs from January to March. Pregnancy lasts 60-63 days; in a litter, on average, 3-6 puppies (rarely - up to 12), which are born in the spring. Female dens are arranged in pits under fallen trees, in sandy slopes, along river banks. Both parents are engaged in offspring; puppies become independent at 6 months.

The average life expectancy of a red wolf in nature is 8 years; in captivity, they lived up to 14 years.

Population status

Traditionally, there were three subspecies of the red wolf, two of which have become extinct.

• Canis rufus floridanus extinct by 1930
• Canis rufus rufus declared extinct in 1970,
• Canis rufus gregoryi extinct in nature by 1980.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Red Wolf

- You have a good bitch! he said casually. - Rezva?
- This? Yes, this one is a kind dog, it catches, ”Ilagin said in an indifferent voice about his red-haired Yerza, for whom a year ago he gave his neighbor three families of courtyards. - So you, Count, do not boast of being hammered? He continued the conversation. And considering it polite to repay the young count in the same way, Ilagin examined his dogs and chose Milka, who caught his eye with her width.
- You have a good black-pie - okay! - he said.
“Yes, nothing, he’s jumping,” answered Nikolai. “If only a hardened hare would run into the field, I would show you what kind of dog this is!” he thought, and turning to the stirrup said that he gives a ruble to someone who suspects, that is, finds a lying hare.
“I don’t understand,” Ilagin continued, “how other hunters are envious of the beast and dogs. I'll tell you about myself, Count. It amuses me, you know, to take a ride; now you’ll move in with such a company ... what’s better already (he again took off his beaver cap in front of Natasha); and this is to count the skins, how many he brought - I don’t care!
- Well, yes.
- Or so that I would be offended that someone else's dog would catch, and not mine - I just would like to admire the persecution, right, count? Then I judge...
- Atu - his, - a drawn-out cry of one of the stopped greyhounds was heard at that time. He stood on a semi-mound of stubble, raising a rapnik, and once again repeated drawlingly: - A - that - him! (This sound and the raised rapnik meant that he sees a hare lying in front of him.)
“Ah, I suspect, I think,” Ilagin said casually. - Well, let's go, count!
- Yes, you need to drive up ... yes - well, together? Nikolai answered, peering at Yerza and at the red Uncle Rugai, at his two rivals, with whom he had never yet managed to equalize his dogs. “Well, how will my Milka be cut off from my ears!” he thought, moving towards the hare next to his uncle and Ilagin.
- Mother? Ilagin asked, moving towards the suspicious hunter, and not without excitement, looking around and whistling to Yerza...
“And you, Mikhail Nikanorych?” he turned to his uncle.
Uncle rode frowning.
- Why should I meddle, because yours is a pure march! - in the village they paid for the dog, your thousandths. You measure yours, and I'll take a look!
- Scold! On, on, he shouted. - Scold! he added, involuntarily expressing by this diminutive his tenderness and hope placed in this red dog. Natasha saw and felt the excitement hidden by these two old men and her brother, and she herself was worried.
The hunter stood on a half-hill with a raised rapnik, the gentlemen drove up to him at a step; the hounds, walking on the very horizon, turned away from the hare; hunters, not gentlemen, also drove off. Everything moved slowly and sedately.
- Where is the head? Nikolai asked, driving up a hundred paces to the suspicious hunter. But before the hunter had time to answer, the hare, sensing frost by tomorrow morning, could not lie down and jumped up. A flock of hounds on bows, with a roar, rushed downhill after a hare; from all sides, the greyhounds, who were not in packs, rushed to the hounds and to the hare. All those slow-moving hunters-snipers shouting: stop! knocking down dogs, greyhounds shouting: atu! guiding the dogs, they galloped across the field. Calm Ilagin, Nikolai, Natasha and uncle flew, not knowing how and where, seeing only dogs and a hare, and fearing only to lose sight of the persecution even for a moment. The hare was caught hardened and frisky. Jumping up, he did not immediately gallop, but moved his ears, listening to the scream and clatter that suddenly resounded from all sides. He jumped about ten times slowly, letting the dogs approach him, and finally, having chosen a direction and realizing the danger, he laid his ears and rushed at full speed. He was lying on the stubble, but in front there were greenery, on which it was marshy. The two dogs of the suspicious hunter, who were the closest of all, were the first to look and pawn behind the hare; but they had not yet moved far towards him, when the Ilaginskaya red-spotted Yerza flew out from behind them, approached the dog at a distance, with terrible speed gave, aiming at the tail of the hare and thinking that she had grabbed him, rolled head over heels. The hare arched its back and pushed even harder. A broad-assed, black-spotted Milka came out from behind Yerza and quickly began to sing to the hare.
- Honey! mother! - Nikolai's triumphant cry was heard. It seemed that Milka would now hit and pick up the hare, but she caught up and swept past. Rusak retired. The beautiful Yerza settled down again and hung over the very tail of the hare, as if trying on how not to make a mistake now, to grab her back thigh.
- Erzanka! sister! I heard Ilagin crying, not his own voice. Erza did not heed his pleas. At the very moment when it was necessary to wait for her to grab the hare, he swung and rolled out to the border between greenery and stubble. Again Yerza and Milka, like a drawbar pair, leveled off and began to sing to the hare; at the turn it was easier for the hare, the dogs did not approach him so quickly.

The wolf is a symbol of cruelty, ferocity, anger and gluttony. In real life, the wolf acts independently and brings a lot of evil to people and many animals.

There are a large number of folk expressions dedicated to this evil beast, which could be deposited in your subconscious and become a kind of message for the appearance of the image of a wolf in a dream: “People are dear, but the wolf is on the side”, “They beat the wolf not because it is gray, but because that he ate a sheep”, “winter for the wolf is a custom. Winter is said to the wolf”, “No matter how much you feed the wolf, he always looks into the forest”, “The wolf ate raw meat, but spun high”, “Wolves howl under housing - to frost or to war” and many others.

To dream of a wolf hunting a goat means that in real life you should not expect help from other people; Problems that arise can only be solved by you.

If in a dream the wolf does not catch up with the kid, then such a dream suggests that you should not take on the business offered to you, otherwise you will lose everything you have.

Watching a wolf in a dream, which stands near a high mountain and looks at a goat grazing on it, is a sign that in real life you will find yourself in a difficult situation from which you will be able to get out with honor and even benefit.

If the goat is standing on a mountain where there is no vegetation, and the wolf is below in a green meadow, then in the near future your enemies will show themselves, but, despite all their efforts, they will not be able to defeat you, because you are much smarter and smarter than them.

If you dreamed of a wolf waiting for its prey near a herd of grazing cattle, then this dream is clear evidence that in real life, despite all your efforts, you will not be able to prevent evil.

To dream of a wolf secretly removing thirst from the trough of domestic animals indicates that there is a very evil person in your environment, whose actions are insidious and at the same time secretive.

Such a dream may also mean that you should be very careful, otherwise you yourself will not understand how you will lose your job, property, family and, possibly, even your life.

Caring for a wounded wolf in a dream is a sign that you will meet a person about whom you have heard only the worst before. But such a dream also indicates that these rumors will not come true, and you will understand that this person is not so bad as you were told.

Threatening your child in a dream with a wolf, that is, telling him when he cannot fall asleep: “A gray top will come and drag him by the barrel,” means that in real life your words almost always diverge from deeds.

Listening to the howl of a wolf in a dream is evidence that you will soon be falsely accused. Perhaps such a dream suggests that your work colleague is plotting against you.

Interpretation of dreams from the Ancient dream book

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Conservation measures are primarily aimed at saving species that are on the verge of extinction and also attract our interest. For a long time, North American met both of these criteria. However, now the question of its origin has sharply arisen. Therefore, its survival may depend on whether it is a separate species at all.

Most wolves belong to the species Canis lupus, which has several separate morphological types that occupy certain parts of the range, including the timber and tundra wolves. In the past, zoologists mostly viewed the red wolf as a species in its own right, distributed across the eastern United States, from Pennsylvania in the north to Texas in the west. According to the traditional view, human persecution and the increasing destruction of habitats as a result of economic activities have doomed this species to extinction. The disappearance of individual populations of the red wolf began in the 60s. XX century; by 1980 only about 80 individuals remained, most of which live in captivity.

But soon a different view of this problem appeared. Some scientists even challenged the species status of the red wolf. In their opinion, the red wolf did not evolve over millions of years, but arose as a result of the hybridization of coyotes and gray wolves during human settlement and disruption of the structure of the natural populations of these animals. Habitat loss caused a mixture of previously isolated populations, and such hybrid individuals became a transitional form to the red wolf.

Intensive research into the anatomical and genetic features of the red wolf over the past few years has yielded conflicting results. The study of behavioral features, morphological characteristics of the skull, mitochondrial DNA and micro-satellite part of DNA confirmed the species status of the red wolf. The red wolf originated in the early Pleistocene more than 500,000 years ago, and more importantly, it was the precursor from which modern coyotes and gray wolves are descended. According to this theory, the number of the red wolf began to decline in nature after 1940. In this regard, coyotes and red wolf-coyote hybrids replaced red wolves in most of the original range.

But there is also genetic evidence in favor of the hybridization theory. The results of most studies conducted in the 1990s support the new hypothesis that gray wolves and coyotes may have interbred repeatedly prior to European settlement in the southern and central United States, although the possibility that crossbreeding may have occurred recently, in the result of human-induced environmental changes.

In an unexpected twist to this story, further genetic studies have shown a close relationship between the red wolf and wolves living in southeastern Canada, which were previously considered gray wolves. The connection has also been confirmed by morphology and fossil remains. Perhaps the most interesting trait of red wolves is their ability to interbreed with coyotes, which makes both species prone to genetic mixing. According to the new point of view, a significant part of those animals that were considered gray wolves living in eastern Canada and the Great Lakes region may turn out to be red wolves or hybrids of gray and red. And the "coyotes" that now inhabit the eastern United States may be hybrids of coyotes and red wolves.

Red wolves are virtually indistinguishable in appearance from their much more common cousins, the gray wolves. Only a few individuals have a reddish coloration. An example is this beautiful specimen, which is a mixture of tawny, fawn, gray and black.

This new information allowed us to put forward another hypothesis for the origin of the red wolf. She suggests that gray wolves, red wolves, and coyotes are descendants of a common North American ancestor, where the red wolf and coyote form one evolutionary branch and the gray wolf form another. According to this model of evolution, the predecessor of all modern wolves migrated to Eurasia 1-2 million years ago, where it developed into the modern gray wolf before returning to North America in the Pleistocene, about 300,000 years ago. Around the same time, the Eastern Canadian red wolf and the coyote, which originated in North America, split.

It is clear that red and gray wolf recovery efforts in North America need to be reassessed if red wolf populations remain in southeast Canada. This is much more than a purely academic interest, given that the Ministry of Nature and Fisheries spends approximately $4 million annually on red wolf reintroduction.

It is now believed that the wolves of southeast Canada are a mixture of hybrids between different forms - between the Old World gray wolf of the lupus type and the local New World lycaon type wolf, and between the red wolf and the coyote and the gray wolf. Some of them may also be gray wolf-coyote hybrids. Although geneticists believe that direct hybridization between gray wolves and coyotes is unlikely to occur, it is possible that it happened "step by step": red wolf-coyote hybrids mated with gray wolves.

The dilemma for conservation organizations is to determine if such hybridization has taken place, was it due to human influence? If the red wolf is not a real species, then the question of the degree of human participation in this phenomenon becomes more than controversial. If this is a real species and hybridization is a natural phenomenon, then it is more of a "process" of speciation rather than a "steady state". If hybridization is caused by human activities, then this wolf should be protected for all the reasons why we work to preserve biodiversity in nature. The lesson is that we must pay equal attention to the protection of evolutionary processes and the protection of species. Until now, conservationists have focused only on the protection of the species themselves, but such an approach is inappropriate on the scale of evolutionary time. It is likely that the evolution of North American wolves has not ended, it is happening before our eyes. Despite the advent of genetic methods that have increased our ability to study taxonomy, gaping gaps remain in our knowledge of the relationship of wild wolves. The discovery of a recipe for the formation of natural "wolf hybrids" in North America is an important area of ​​work for the protection of endangered species.

The wolf is a predatory mammal that belongs to the carnivorous order, the canine family (canine, wolf).

The Russian word “wolf” is consonant with some Slavic names of the beast: Bulgarians call the predator Vylk, Serbs - Vuk, Ukrainians - Vovk. The origin of the name goes back to the Old Slavonic word "vylk", meaning to drag, drag away.

Predators have a long and thick tail, which in some species grows up to 56 cm in length and is always lowered. The wolf's head is massive, with high-set sharp ears, and the muzzle is elongated and wide. The skull of the red and maned wolves is shaped like a fox.

The wolf's mouth is armed with 42 teeth: predatory teeth are designed to tear prey into pieces and grind bones, and with the help of fangs, the beast holds and drags its prey tightly.

Only in red wolves, the dental formula contains a smaller number of molars.

Wolf cubs are born with blue eyes, but by the third month the iris becomes orange or golden yellow, although there are wolves that remain blue-eyed all their lives.

The fur of the wolf is thick and two-layered: the undercoat is formed by waterproof fluff, and the top layer is made up of guard hairs that repel dirt and moisture. The low thermal conductivity of wool allows animals to survive in the most severe climatic conditions.

The color of wolves is distinguished by a rich spectrum of shades, including various variations of gray, white, black and brown, although it is not uncommon for the fur to be red, pure white or almost black. It is believed that the color of the coat allows predators to harmoniously merge with the surrounding landscape, and the mixing of different shades emphasizes the individuality of animals.

Wolves are digitigrade animals: reliance on fingers allows them to balance their weight while moving. Strong limbs, a narrow sternum and a sloping back allow predators to travel considerable distances in search of food. The usual gait of a wolf is a light trot at a speed of about 10 km / h. The speed of a wolf chasing prey can reach 65 km/h.

The wolf has excellent hearing, eyesight is much weaker, but the sense of smell is excellently developed: the predator smells prey 3 km away, and the ability to distinguish several million different shades of smell is of great importance during the rutting season, during hunting and during the communicative communication of animals. Urine and faecal marks are used to mark territory boundaries.

The vocal range of wolves is rich and varied: predators howl, grunt, yap, squeal, growl, whimper and convey complex messages to other members of the pack with their voice. At dawn, you can hear the “choral singing” of wolves. It is believed that wolves howl at the moon, but in fact, howling animals inform members of the pack about their location and drive away strangers. Solitary animals that live outside the pack rarely howl, so as not to bring trouble on themselves.

The facial expressions of wolves are also very highly developed: thanks to the position of the mouth, lips, ears and tail, as well as the display of teeth, predators express their emotional state. As with a domestic dog, a raised tail and wolf ears indicate alertness or aggression.

The lifespan of wolves

In nature, wolves live from 8 to 16 years; in captivity, life expectancy can reach 20 years.

Historically, the range of wolves was the second largest after the range of humans in the Northern Hemisphere, but today it has decreased significantly. Wolves live in Europe (the Baltic States, Spain, Portugal, Ukraine, Belarus, Italy, Poland, the Balkans and the Scandinavian countries), Asia (in countries such as China, Korea, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Iran , Iraq, north of the Arabian Peninsula), Africa (Ethiopia), North America (Canada, Mexico, USA, including Alaska), South America (Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay). In Russia, wolves are distributed throughout the territory, except for Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

The following types of wolves live in Russia:

• red wolf (2 subspecies out of 10);
• Gray wolf;
• tundra wolf;
• steppe wolf;
• Eurasian wolf, also known as Tibetan or Carpathian;
• polar Wolf.

Predators have mastered and adapted to life in a wide variety of natural areas: wolves live in the tundra, forests, deserts and semi-deserts, on plains, in mountain forests, sometimes they settle near settlements.

Wolves are territorial and social animals, forming packs of 3 to 40 individuals, which occupy a personal area of ​​65-300 square kilometers, marked with odorous marks. At the head of the pack is a monogamous pair of leaders: an alpha male and an alpha female, the rest of the pack members are their offspring, other relatives and clinging lone wolves, subject to a strict hierarchy. For the rutting period, the flock breaks up, the territory is divided into small fragments, but the dominant pair always gets the best site. While moving through their territory, the leaders leave odorous marks every 3 minutes. At the border of the territory, the density of marks can be even more frequent.

Being nocturnal animals, during the day wolves rest in various natural shelters, thickets and shallow caves, but often use the burrows of marmots, arctic foxes or, and dig holes themselves very rarely.

What does a wolf eat?

Wolves are one of the most agile, fast and enduring predators, tracking down and tirelessly pursuing their prey. The diet of the wolf depends on the availability of food and in most varieties consists mainly of animal food. Wolves are equally successful in hunting in packs and alone, but they can drive and attack large prey, for example, reindeer, bison or yak, only by cohesive hunting. In 60% of cases, wolves attack young, old, sick or injured animals, and they perfectly feel whether the animal is strong and healthy or sickly and weakened.

In the wild, the wolf feeds on large animals (, roe deer, saigas, bison, wild boars), smaller mammals (, armadillos, lemmings), as well as fish, incubating birds, and their eggs. Wolves often prey on large and small domestic animals and birds (geese,), as well as foxes, wild dogs and corsacs.

In the absence of a main source of food, wolves do not disdain small amphibians (for example,), insects (,) and carrion (for example, dead seals washed ashore). In the warm season, berries, mushrooms and ripe fruits appear in the diet of predators.

In the steppes, wolves quench their thirst in the fields with gourds - watermelons and melons. Hungry predators even attack in hibernation, they will not miss the opportunity to tear a weakened and sick animal, eating up to 10-14 kg of meat at a time. A starving polar wolf eats a hare whole, with bones and skin. An interesting feature of wolves is their habit of returning to the corpses of an undereaten victim, as well as hiding excess meat in reserve.

Types of wolves, photos and names

In the canine (wolf) family, several genera are distinguished, which include different types of wolves:

1. Rod Wolves (lat. Canis)
   • Wolf, he is a gray wolf, or an ordinary wolf (lat. canis lupus), which includes many subspecies, including domestic dogs and Dingo dogs (secondarily feral):
     • Canis lupus albus(Kerr, 1792) - tundra wolf,
     • † Canis lupus alces(Goldman, 1941),
     • canis lupus arabs(Pocock, 1934) - Arabian wolf,
     • Canis lupus arctos(Pocock, 1935) - Melville island wolf,
     • Canis lupus baileyi(Nelson and Goldman, 1929) - Mexican wolf,
     • † Canis lupus beothucus(G. M. Allen and Barbour, 1937) - Newfoundland wolf,
     • † Canis lupus bernardi(Anderson, 1943),
     • Canis lupus campestris(Dwigubski, 1804) - desert wolf, he is also a steppe wolf,
     • Canis lupus chanco(Grey, 1863),
     • canis lupus columbianus(Goldman, 1941),
     • Canis lupus crassodon(Hall, 1932) Vancouver island wolf,
     • † Canis lupus deitanus(Cabrera, 1907) (in some classifications it is a synonym for the subspecies Canis lupus lupus),
     • canis lupus dingo(Meyer, 1793) - Dingo dog, or secondarily feral domestic dog,
     • Canis lupus familiaris(Linnaeus, 1758) - dog,
     • Canis lupus filchneri(Matschie, 1907),
     • Canis lupus floridanus(Miller, 1912),
     • † canis lupus fuscus(Richardson, 1839),
     • Canis lupus gregoryi(Goldman, 1937),
     • † Canis lupus griseoalbus(Baird, 1858),
     • Canis lupus hallstromi(Troughton, 1958) - New Guinea singing dog (in some classifications it is a synonym for the subspecies canis lupus dingo),
     • † Canis lupus hattai(Kishida, 1931) - Japanese wolf, or shaman,
     • † Canis lupus hodophilax(Temminck, 1839),
     • Canis lupus hudsonicus(Goldman, 1941) - Hudson wolf,
     • † Canis lupus irremotus(Goldman, 1937),
     • Canis lupus labradorius(Goldman, 1937),
     • Canis lupus ligoni(Goldman, 1937),
     • canis lupus lupus(Linnaeus, 1758) - European wolf, he is also a Eurasian wolf, Chinese wolf, or ordinary wolf,
     • Canis lupus lycaon(Schreber, 1775) - eastern wolf, or North American timber wolf,
     • Canis lupus mackenzii(Anderson, 1943),
     • Canis lupus manningi(Anderson, 1943),
     • † Canis lupus minor(M. Mojsisovics, 1887) (in some classifications it is a synonym for the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris),
     • † Canis lupus mogollonensis(Goldman, 1937),
     • † Canis lupus monstrabilis(Goldman, 1937),
     • Canis lupus nubilus(Say, 1823) - buffalo wolf, or wolf of the Great Plains,
     • Canis lupus occidentalis(Richardson, 1829) - the Mackenzian plains wolf, also known as the Alaskan wolf, Canadian wolf or Rocky Mountain wolf,
     • Canis lupus orion(Pocock, 1935),
     • Canis lupus pallipes(Sykes, 1831) - Asian, he is also an Indian or Iranian wolf,
     • Canis lupus pambasileus(Elliot, 1905),
     • Canis lupus rufus(Audubon and Bachman, 1851) - red wolf,
     • Canis lupus signatus(Cabrera, 1907) - the Iberian wolf (in some classifications it is a synonym for the subspecies Canis lupus lupus),
     • Canis lupus tundrarum(Miller, 1912) - polar wolf,
     • † Canis lupus youngi(Goldman, 1937) – Southern Rocky Mountain wolf.
2. Genus Maned wolves (lat. Chrysocyon)
   • Maned wolf, or guara, or aguarachay (lat. Chrysocyon brachyurus)
3. Genus Red Wolves
   • Red wolf, or mountain wolf, or Himalayan wolf, or buanzu (lat. Cuon alpinus)

Below is a description of several varieties of wolves.

• Red Wolf, he is mountain wolf, himalayan wolf or buanzu(Cuon alpinus)

A large predator, outwardly combining the features of a wolf, fox and jackal. Mature males grow from 76 to 110 cm in length. At the same time, the weight of the red wolf is 17-21 kg. The tail of animals is longer than that of other wolves, fluffy, like a fox, and grows up to 45-50 cm in length. The red wolf has a short, pointed muzzle and large, high-set ears. The main color of animals is various shades of red, and the tip of the tail is always black. A distinctive feature of the subspecies is considered to be a smaller number of teeth and from 6 to 7 pairs of nipples. Differences in fur density, color and body size made it possible to divide the species into 10 subspecies.

Biotopes of predators are attached to mountains, rocks and gorges (up to 4 thousand meters above sea level). The red wolf feeds on small animals - amphibians and rodents, as well as large animals: sambars, axises and antelopes. In summer, wolves are happy to eat various vegetation.

A significant part of the range of animals extends across the territory of Central and South Asia, predators live from the Altai Mountains and Tien Shan to Hindustan, Indochina and the Malay Archipelago. The largest population is observed in the Himalayas, in southern Iran, in India and the Pakistani Indus Valley. In other habitats, the red wolf is extremely small or completely extinct, so the species is classified as endangered and is under protection.

• Maned wolf, he is guar or aguarachai (Chrysocyon brachyurus)

A unique member of the family, its name translates as “short-tailed golden dog”. Long hair up to 13 cm long grows on the nape of predators, forming a thick mane. Externally, a maned wolf resembles a large long-legged fox, the body length of adults is 125-130 cm, due to overly elongated limbs, the height of the wolf at the withers reaches 74-87 cm, and animals weigh from 20 to 23 kg. The obvious disproportions of the body are especially emphasized by the long muzzle, large, high-set ears and a short tail from 28 to 45 cm long. The wolf's coat is reddish-yellow, a strip of black wool runs along the spine, the legs are almost black, and the chin and end of the tail are light.

Maned wolves live exclusively on the plains, and have evolved their surprisingly long limbs, allowing them to make their way through the thickets of grass. The range of the species extends from the northeast of Brazil to the eastern regions of Bolivia, in the south it captures Paraguay and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. According to the IUCN, the state of the population is becoming vulnerable.

Predators feed on rodents, rabbits, armadillos, amphibians, insects, and also eat guava, and nightshade, which rids animals of nematodes.

• eastern wolf, he is north american timber wolf(Canis lupus lycaon)

It still does not have a definite classification: a number of scientists consider it as an independent species ( canis lycaon) or considered a hybrid of a gray wolf with a red wolf or a coyote. The growth in the shoulders of mature males reaches 80 cm, females - 75 cm, with a body weight of 40 and 30 kg, respectively. The fur of the eastern wolf is yellowish-brown, shaggy, black hair grows on the back and sides, and the area behind the ears is distinguished by a reddish-brown tint.

Eastern wolves are predominantly carnivores, deer, elk and rodents become their prey.

These animals live in forests from the southeast of the Canadian province of Ontario to the province of Quebec.

• common wolf, or Gray wolf(canis lupus)

One of the largest predators among canines, with a body size reaching 1-1.6 m. The growth in the shoulders of mature individuals is from 66 to 86 cm, in especially large specimens it can be up to 90 cm. An ordinary wolf weighs from 32 to 62 kg, in the inhabitants of the northern regions of the range, body weight varies from 50 to 80 kg. The tail of predators grows up to 52 cm. The color of the fur of animals is quite variable: the inhabitants of the forests are usually gray-brown, the inhabitants of the tundra are almost white, the predators of the deserts are gray with red, only the undercoat is always gray.

The favorite food of wolves is various hoofed mammals: deer, elk, roe deer, antelopes, wild boars and small animals: mice, hares, ground squirrels. Wolves do not disdain representatives of their own family, for example, small foxes and raccoon dogs, often various domestic animals become their prey. During the ripening period, predators quench their thirst on melons, eating watermelons and melons, because they need a lot of moisture.

The range of the gray wolf passes through the territory of Eurasia and North America. In Europe, predators are distributed from Spain and Portugal to Ukraine, Scandinavia and the Balkans. In Russia, the gray wolf lives everywhere, except for Sakhalin and the Kuriles. In Asia, animals are distributed from Korea, China and Hindustan to Afghanistan and the north of the Arabian Peninsula. In North America, animals are found from Alaska to Mexico.

• red wolf(Canis lupus rufus)

At first it was considered as an independent species (lat. Canis rufus), but DNA analyzes made it possible to consider it a hybrid of a gray wolf and a coyote.

These predators are smaller than gray relatives, but larger than coyotes, their size is from 1 to 1.3 m excluding the tail, and the growth of animals is from 66 to 79 cm. Seasoned wolves weigh from 20 to 41 kg. Red wolves are leaner and longer-legged than their gray relatives, with longer ears and shorter fur. The red color of the fur is characteristic of the inhabitants of Texas; other animals in color, along with red, have gray, brownish and black tones; the back is usually black.

The diet of predators consists mainly of rodents, raccoons and hares, hunting for large prey is rare. Insects and various berries act as secondary food, and carrion is eaten on occasion.

The red wolf is the rarest subspecies, its range, originally covering the eastern United States, was reduced to small areas of Texas and Louisiana, and in the 70s of the 20th century the red wolf was completely exterminated, with the exception of 14 specimens preserved in captivity. Thanks to efforts to restore the population, out of 300 bred individuals, about a hundred predators today live within the state of North Carolina.

• tundra wolf(Canis lupus albus)

One of the especially large and poorly studied subspecies, outwardly similar to its close relative, the polar wolf, but somewhat inferior to it in size: the average weight of predators is about 42-49 kg. Although pure white wolves are found in the population, most individuals are gray-white and dark gray with no brown at all.

The developed massive jaws of the wolf with strong teeth make it possible to hunt large prey, although rodents and white hares are present in the diet.

Tundra wolves live throughout the tundra and forest-tundra of Europe and Siberia up to Kamchatka and the coast of the Arctic.

• steppe wolf, or desert wolf(Canis lupus campestris)

Poorly studied species of predators of small size, with rather rare and rough fur of a grayish-ocher color.

Desert wolves inhabit the steppe and desert landscapes of Central Asia, including the Kazakh steppes and southern Russia: Ciscaucasia, the Caspian lowland, the Ural region and the Lower Volga region.

• Eurasian wolf, he is European, steppe, Carpathian, Tibetan or to Chinese wolf, also called common wolf(canis lupus lupus)

Outwardly, the predator resembles the North American subspecies, but its fur is denser and shorter. The growth of mature males in the shoulders is about 76 cm with a body weight of 70 to 73 kg.

The smallest individuals inhabit Eastern Europe, the most massive are found in the north of Russia. The color of wolves is monochromatic or includes various combinations of gray, white, black, red and beige, and the most brightly colored specimens live in Central Europe.

The diet of European wolves depends on the area and consists mainly of medium and large prey, such as saigas, chamois, moufflons, deer, roe deer, wild boars, and even bison and yaks. Predators do not disdain smaller animals, catching hares and frogs, and in the absence of food, they feed on waste from slaughterhouses in garbage dumps.

The Carpathian wolf is considered a particularly common subspecies of the common wolf and is found in a significant range that runs through Eurasia through Western Europe, the Scandinavian countries, Russia, China, Mongolia, Azerbaijan and the Himalayas.

• polar Wolf(Canis lupus tundrarum)

The closest relative of the European wolf and the completely extinct Japanese wolf. Adult males grow in length from 1.3 to 1.5 m, not counting the tail, and weigh about 85 kg, their height at the shoulders reaches 80-93 cm. The light fur of the polar wolf is extremely dense, adapted to survive in extremely cold climates and warming the beast during long hunger strikes.

Lemmings and arctic hare become the most accessible prey for predators; if the hunt is successful, the flock gets musk ox or reindeer.

The range of the species extends throughout the Arctic and undergoes slight fluctuations caused by the migrations of animals - the main food sources. The life span of a polar wolf is about 17 years.