- The canid family is made up of 35 living species. Only 8 inhabit North America, these eight are organized in three general categories: wolves, coyotes, and foxes.
- For short spurts, wolves can run up to 28 miles (45 kilometers) per hour. Moving at a trot, they travel 5 to 10 miles ( 8 to 16 kilometers) in an hour.
- The gestation period is 63 days. A litter usually consists of 4-6 pups. Pups weigh about 1 pound at birth.
- Wolves do not make good pets.
- A gray wolf stands up to 3 feet high ( 90 cm) and 4 feet long ( 120 cm)
- Gray wolves weigh an average of 100 lbs ( 45 kilo) but there are some make it up to 170 lbs.
- Wolves are fully grown at 18 months, but females reach maturity at age 2 and males at age 3.
- Wolves almost always avoid people because they are so fearful of them.
- Wolves have incredibly good hearing and can hear sounds up to six miles away, including some high-pitched sounds that even a human can't hear.
- The nose of the wolf is moist. This helps increase the particles of scent that is absorbed.
- A female gray wolf weighs 20 percent less than the male.
- The wolves have a coat made up of two layers. The outer layer has bristles and theinner layer is waterproof and acts as an insulating layer to conserve the body heat
- The gray wolf in the wild, is known to live approximately 6-8 years, there are records of some living up to 13 years. In captivity, the gray wolf may live up to 17 years
- The pups may arrive between the month of March to June.
- The average size of the litter is 5-6 pups. On two occasions, in Russia, the litter size was recorded as 17.
- A gray wolf pup, averagely weigh 0.5 kg or one pound, at the time of birth is completely dependent on its mother, as it cannot see or hear.
- The gray wolf pup has darker fur and blue iris, at the time of birth.
- The color of its iris changes to a yellow-gold or orange, before it reaches the age 16 weeks.It takes about two months for the pup to become independent
