How wolves interact with other
predators.
BEARS: Wolves and bears can coexist
peacefully and often avoid each other. However, wolf-bear interactions can be quite violent.
Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) will sometimes dig up, kill, and eat wolf
pups. As a result, wolf
packs will attempt to drive away grizzly bears that get close to the dens where
wolf pups are living. Wolves may even attack, and have been known to kill, a
grizzly bear that gets too close to the den. Wolves and grizzly bears have been
seen fighting over animal carcasses from helicopters in Alaska. Bears will
scavenge off of kills made by wolves, and they may try to drive a wolf or a few
wolves off of a kill. Wolves can be quite aggressive towards black bears. There are records of wolves
preying on black bears (Ursus americanus), and wolves have been known to
kill and eat hibernating bears. Wolves will also attack black bear cubs
when the mother bear cannot get to them and hurry them up a tree fast enough. Black bears will also
occasionally kill wolf cubs.
COUGARS: Wolves
will sometimes drive a cougar (Felis concolor) away from a kill
it has made so they can eat it themselves. A solitary cougar is often at a
disadvantage when it is involved in a fight with a wolf pack, but a cougar may injure and/or kill
wolves that try to take over a kill it has made if there are only a few
wolves present. It is rare
for a wolf to kill a mature cougar, but it has happened and wolves occasionally
kill cougar cubs. Overall, wolf-cougar interactions are rarely observed
because of the rarity of the two species, but the two generally share an
animosity towards each other, since they both prey on large game.
LYNX:
Few interactions between
lynx and wolves have been documented in North America. Erkki Pulliainen,
a researcher at the University of Helsinki, found that wolves and lynx in Finland seem to be enemies
and that they do not share territories. In Hungary and Finland, lynx numbers tend to increase
in an area when wolf numbers in that area decrease.
TIGERS AND LEOPARDS: Wolves, tigers (Panthera tigri) and
leopards (Panthera pardus) all occur in India. Tigers and leopards often prey on the same animals
that wolves do so wolves generally do not share ranges with tigers or leopards.
"Billy" Arjan Singh, a well known naturalist who studies tigers, has
noted that, before they were driven to near extinction, tigers would sometimes
prey on wolves.
WOLVERINES AND OTHER WEASELS: Interactions between wolves and weasels are typically of
an aggressive nature.
Wolverines (Gulo gulo, which are not as vicious as their reputation
suggests they are) are often driven away from a kill they have been feeding on
by wolves. Occasionally,
the wolverine is killed. Martens, mink and ermines are often killed by
wolves, and their carcasses are usually left uneaten. Despite this danger, weasels often scavenge off of
abandoned wolf kills.
COYOTES: Wolves
will often chase away (and possibly kill ) coyotes (Canis latrans)
that venture onto their territory. When wolves were reestablished in Yellowstone
National Park, coyote numbers in the park decreased and coyotes disappeared on
Isle Royale about eight years after wolves reached the island. Some studies,
such as those done by coyote biologist Wendy Arjo, suggest that coyotes often avoid wolves and choose
home ranges that lie between the ranges of wolf packs. Coyotes are also active between the hours of 7:00
am and 11:00 am, while wolves are generally active at night. However, some coyotes will scanvenge off
of wolf kills and some will even follow a wolf pack from a distance so they can
scavenge off of the wolf kills when the wolves are some distance from it.
The two species can interbreed, though they rarely do so. However, there is
some evidence that the two species have interbred with each other in the
eastern United States. Interbreeding
between the two species is most likely to occur when wolf numbers are so low
that a lone wolf would have a great deal of trouble finding a mate of the same
species. Coyotes have also been breeding with the endangered red wolf (Canis
rufus).
FOXES:
Foxes, like coyotes,
weasels, and bears, will scavenge off of wolf kills. Many other species
also rely somewhat on food gained from wolf kills. These include eagles, gulls,
grey jays, blue jays, stellar's jays, red squirrels, deer mice, black-capped
chickadees, boreal chickadees, and bobcats. Wolves will sometimes raid food caches that a fox has
prepared, and wolves will also take over old fox dens. Wolves often
ignore foxes, since foxes do not compete with wolves for food as foxes hunt
much smaller animals than wolves do. However, wolves will chase away, and possibly catch, injure and kill, a
fox that was caught feeding on its kill. Most foxes are fast and alert
enough to get away from the wolves first. Although it is rare, wolves have been
known to prey on red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Arctic wolves will also prey
on arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) if food is scarce.
ALLIGATORS: Alligators
have been known to kill red wolves.
SUMMARY:
Wolves like many other animals have
predators and enemies. What you probably didn’t know is that wolves and their
enemies interbreed (mate) as well. Some of these interbreed enemies include
coyotes and weasels and even wolverines. Wolves seem to look at other species
as competition to get food. Food is usually what wolves fight for anyways.
"Let
me be powerful like the wolf" is an old Apache phrase that best describes
the magnificence of these animals.
I’m very
interested in wolves. Not only are they beautiful creatures, they are also
magnificent. Head and body length of wolves are usually 1,000-1,600 mm and the tail
lengths are 350-560 mm. There are species of wolves, for example Arabian wolves
that are found on the Arabian Peninsula, who are much smaller in size. Male
wolves are larger than female wolves. And since male wolves are bigger it usually
means that their brains are bigger, or the same size. There is also more than
175 species of wolves on this planet so far. Wolves can also almost be found
anywhere in livable climates. Another
thing about wolves that interest me is their loyalty and devotion to one’s
pack. They most always stay together. Loyalty and devotion is what makes a
family or in this case a pack.
Dogs evolved from wolves. They possess the same amount of
loyalty and smarts that a wolf has, and used on dangerous missions of hunting
scents and seeking out the enemy. German Shepherds are said to be the closest
dog to a wolf. This explains the use of that breed in the military and police
forces.
11) Compared to
a human brain how much is the difference of weight in a human brain and a wolf
brain?
22) Are wolf
body cells stronger/tougher than human body cells?
33) Do dogs and
wolves have a brain difference?
Mech, L. David/ Boitani, Luigi (2010) Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation University
of Chicago Press (BOOK)
