Arctic Wolves

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"More curious than frightened of humans, the arctic wolf embodies what the gray wolf once was and could be again."

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The white wolf has captured the imagination of people for years. To many, it is considered a magical and mythical animal. To a scientist it is called the arctic wolf and is of great interest.

Very few people have ever seen an arctic wolf. This is because the arctic wolf lives in the coldest place on earth. Because of this, the arctic wolf has not been disturbed by humans the same way that other wolves have been.

So relax and enjoy your tour of the arctic wolf.

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Photo by Tim Knight

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The picture below shows a typical day in the arctic area of the world. The map to the right shows the location of arctic wolves. You can click on this map to get a bigger versions that you can ACTUALLY READ!

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Click on map for larger view that is easy to read.

How many arctic wolves are there?

Since no one can go out and count every wolf, we have to estimate their numbers. So, we first estimate the number of prey, you know, the animals the wolves like to eat. We say, that for every 100 prey animals we should have at least 1 wolf. This gives us:

CANADA	Number of Wolves
Canis Lupus Arctos	200 Queen Elizabeth Island 1,100 Banks and Victoria Islands

Canis Lupus Manningi	2,100 Baffin Island
Canis Lupus Bernardi	Extinct
Greenland
Canis Lupus Arctos	75 Animals

Note: The arctic wolves in Greenland are assumed to have crossed over from Canada when the Robeson Channel froze over.

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I wear a coat. As a matter of fact, I wear two coats. Under the coat that you see, I have a very very thick coat of soft fur. This is called an UNDERCOAT. It keeps water from getting close to my skin and keeps me warm.

On top of this coat, is fur made up of guard hairs. The water just beads up and slides right off of these hairs. I can jump into a muddy pond and come out looking like, well like, YECH! But, just wait a few minutes and the mud falls off and I look white again.

The bad thing about water and mud coming off so easily is that I do not get that nice sewer smell we wolves love to have.

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Arctic wolves live in the coldest place on earth. It is not uncommon to get -50 degrees wind chill during the heat of the summer. We are talking COLD MAN, I mean really COLD! Teeth do not chatter here, they break!

The arctic wolf is well adapted to living in the cold. In fact, arctic wolves thrive in the cold.

Never my ever faithful fan. All questions are good questions! So lets push on and learn more about this amazing animal of the north!