Gray wolf
The most common wolf. Its fur can be gray, black, brown or even white! Lives in forests and mountains like Yellowstone.
Real photo📏 Wolves by the numbers
Tap a card to see how it compares to you!
👨👩👧👦 A pack is a family
- A wolf pack is a family: usually a mom and dad wolf and their pups from the last few years.
- The parents are the leaders. They decide where the pack goes and when to hunt.
- Pack members hunt together, play together, and help take care of the pups.
- When young wolves are about 2 years old or older, some leave to find a mate and start a pack of their own.
- In deep snow, wolves often walk in a line, stepping in each other's footprints to save energy.
🌙 Why do wolves howl?
- "Where are you?" Howling helps pack members find each other when they're far apart.
- "This is our home!" A howl tells other packs to stay away.
- "Let's go!" Packs often howl together before they set off to hunt.
- Every wolf's howl sounds a little different, so family members know who is calling.
🌕 Myth buster: Wolves don't really howl at the moon! They point their noses up so the sound travels farther.
🐺 Kinds of wolves & where they live
Gray wolves live across North America, Europe and Asia: in forests, mountains, grasslands, deserts and the frozen Arctic. A few other kinds of wolves live in special places.
Arctic wolf
A kind of gray wolf with white fur that blends in with the snow, far up in the icy north of Canada and Greenland.
Real photo
Mexican wolf
The smallest gray wolf in North America. It lives in the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.
Real photo
Red wolf
One of the rarest wolves on Earth. Only a few dozen live in the wild, all in North Carolina.
Real photo
Ethiopian wolf
Lives high in the mountains of Africa and mostly eats small rodents called mole-rats! It's very rare too.
Real photo👃 Super noses & snowshoe feet
- Super smell: A wolf's sense of smell is about 100 times stronger than a person's.
- Big ears: Wolves can hear sounds from far away, even through a forest.
- Night eyes: Wolves see well in dim light, at dawn, dusk and night.
- Snowshoe feet: Big paws spread out wide, so wolves don't sink as much in deep snow.
- Claw marks: Wolves can't pull their claws in like cats can, so wolf tracks show claw marks. Tiger tracks don't!
🍼 Wolf pups
- Wolf pups are born in spring in a den, often a tunnel dug into a hillside.
- A wolf mom usually has about 4 to 6 pups.
- Pups are born with their eyes closed. Their eyes open when they're about 2 weeks old.
- All wolf pups have blue eyes at first! Later they change to gold or brown.
- The whole pack helps: aunts, uncles and big brothers and sisters babysit and bring food.
- Pups wrestle and chase each other. Playing teaches them to be grown-up wolves.
🍖 What do wolves eat?
🦌
Elk and deer are favorite meals.
🫎
Big packs can even catch moose.
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Wolves also eat smaller animals like beavers.
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A hungry wolf can eat about 20 pounds of food in one meal, then go days without eating.
Wolves are carnivores (meat-eaters). They hunt as a team, working together to catch animals much bigger than one wolf.
🏞️ How wolves helped Yellowstone
About 100 years ago, wolves disappeared from Yellowstone National Park. Without wolves, big herds of elk ate the young trees and bushes along the rivers.
In 1995, people brought 14 wolves from Canada back to Yellowstone, and more came the next year. Then something amazing happened:
- 🦌 Elk started moving around more, so they didn't eat every young tree.
- 🌳 Willow and aspen trees grew back along some rivers.
- 🦫 Beavers came back and built dams, making ponds for fish, frogs and birds.
Scientists are still studying just how much the wolves changed things, but they agree: every animal is part of the web of life.
🐕 Wolves and dogs are cousins
Every pet dog, from tiny chihuahuas to giant Great Danes, came from wolves a very, very long time ago. That's why dogs and wolves can both wag their tails, howl and play-bow!
But wolves are wild animals, not pets. Wild wolves are shy and usually stay far away from people. If you ever see one, stay back and enjoy it from a distance.
🐶 Think about it: What does your dog (or a dog you know) do that a wolf might do too?
❓ The Wolf Quiz
How much do you know? Answer the questions one at a time.
🧙 Ask the Animal Wizard
The Animal Wizard knows all about wolves. Type a question and press Ask! Curious about a different animal?
You can ask up to 10 questions in a chat.
The Animal Wizard uses AI, so it can make mistakes. If something sounds surprising, check with a grown-up!
🎬 Wolf videos
Watch these with a grown-up. They open on YouTube.
Gray Wolf | Amazing Animals
Nat Geo Kids
Why Do Wolves Howl at the Moon?
BBC Earth Kids
Arctic Wolf Pups on First Family Outing
Nat Geo Animals
Filming a Pack of Arctic Wolves
BBC Earth Kids
Cheeky Ducks Trick Wolves
BBC Earth Kids
How Wolves Change Rivers
Sustainable Human
Wolves and How to Save Them
Nat Geo Kids
💚 How can we help wolves?
Long ago, people thought wolves were "big and bad," and wolves almost disappeared from much of the United States. Today we know wolves are important for keeping nature healthy.
Good news: Gray wolves have come back to many places, like Yellowstone! 🎉 But red wolves and Ethiopian wolves are still in danger.
- 📚 Learn and share: tell someone a true wolf fact, and bust the "big bad wolf" myth.
- 🏞️ Visit national parks and follow the rules: stay far from wild animals and never feed them.
- 🎨 Draw a wolf family and label who's who: mom, dad, pups!
- 🦮 Be kind to dogs, the wolves' cousins who live with us.
