This often involves a fight for territory, food, or mating rights. Occasionally battles with other packs can occur due to problems arising. Sometimes the young can be eaten by other animals if they wonder out of the den on their own or they venture too far away from the pack. Due to the isolated areas where the Arctic Wolf lives, they don’t have too many problems with predators.
3.Can live in total darkness for 5 months. 2.They are the only wolves left that are not on the endangered species list. Generally, the size of the pack will depend on how much food happens to be available to them. They live in one of the last un-habbited areas of the world. The size of these groups can be from just a couple of wolves to about twenty. They can also be on their own looking to make their own pack. Those that are seen alone may be away from their pack to search for food. Some people believe that the Arctic Wolf is a loner by nature but that isn’t true. They are one of the few species of mammals who can tolerate these harsh conditions. Arctic Wolves inhabit some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world where the air temperature rarely rises above -30 degrees C (-22 F) and the ground is permanently frozen. White fur gives them camouflage in a snowy environment, and the darker irises give added protection to the eyes in a high glare environment. Arctic Wolves tend to be white with brown irises, unlike most other subspecies of wolves with yellow to amber eyes. Arctic Wolf pups are born in litters of two or three in the months of May and June, meaning that the Arctic Wolf pups are born about a month later than the Grey Wolf pups. Due to the Arctic Circle’s uncompromising permafrost soil and the difficulty it poses for digging dens, Arctic Wolves often use rock outcroppings, caves or even shallow depressions as dens instead. Normally, only the alpha male and female breed, but if a pack gets too large it may break up into new smaller packs giving others the opportunity to mate. Although the Arctic Wolf is generally smaller in size than the Grey Wolf, Arctic Wolves tend to be bulkier than Grey Wolves with the male also growing larger than the female. When the Arctic Wolf wants to hunt musk ox, the pack will gather and work as a team attempt to isolate it from the herd and take it.Īn adult musk ox is simply too big for one Arctic Wolf to try and take on alone. The Arctic Wolf hunts lemmings, assorted rodents, and Arctic Hare but will take larger prey like caribou when available. Living in the Arctic Circle, the Arctic Wolf spends five out of twelve months in total darkness. Arctic Wolves are incredibly versatile and adaptive animals, able to withstand year round sub-zero temperatures. Since 1930, there has been a progressive reduction in size in Arctic Wolf skulls, which is likely the result of wolf-dog hybridization. It is a medium-sized subspecies, distinguished from the northwestern wolf by its smaller size, its whiter coloration, its narrower braincase, and larger carnassials. The Arctic Wolf, (Canis lupus arctos) also known as the White Wolf or Polar Wolf, is a subspecies of Grey Wolf native to Canada’s Queen Elizabeth Islands, from Melville Island to Ellesmere Island.