Wolf Facts

Get the facts on wolves! Learn about wolf biology and social traits, ways that they benefit the environment and more!

Fact Sheets

Wolf size, weight, colorings, behavior, status and more can be learned in these colorful fact sheets. Complete with sounds, videos and more.

Gray Wolf | Red Wolf | Mexican Wolf

Biology and Taxonomy

Find answers to commons questions about wolf biology, communication, hunting, taxonomy and evolution.

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Why Restore Wolves?

Wolf restoration efforts help to ensure the wolf's long-term survival, contribute to a healthy ecosystem and provide cultural benefits.

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Resources

Ever wonder about how big a role wolves play in livestock losses or in tourism income? Did you know many parts of the country have anti-wolf laws on their books?


6 Things You Should Know about Wolves

 

  1. You stand a better chance of getting hit by a meteorite than being killed by a wolf.
    Although wolves are large, powerful animals that could kill humans, they do not. According to a 2002 study about wolf conflicts with humans, there is no documented case of a healthy, wild wolf killing a human in the United States. By comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate between 10 to 20 people are killed and 4.7 million attacked each year by man's best friend, the domestic dog.
  2. Wolves and large grazing animals lived side-by-side for tens of thousands of years before the first settlers arrived.
    Recent studies on Yellowstone elk and wolves have found that weather and hunter harvest affect elk declines more than wolf predation. In fact, wolves often enhance prey populations by culling weak and sick animals from the gene pool, leaving only the strongest animals to reproduce. Food availability and weather regulate wolf populations. When their prey is scarce, wolves suffer too. They breed less frequently, have fewer litters, and may even starve to death.
  3. Ranching is a minor part of the economic base of the northern Rockies.
    For instance, in the counties around Yellowstone National Park , livestock production accounts for less than 4% of personal income, while tourism-related industries account for more than 50%. Moreover wolves effects on livestock are negligible, so effects on ranching jobs will be virtually nonexistent.
  4. In portions of the northern Rockies and Southwest, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) designated wolves as "experimental, nonessential" populations.
    This special designation gave landowners a limited right to kill wolves caught in the act of preying on livestock on private property and increased the ability of FWS to remove or destroy problem wolves. Since 1978, wolves, listed as threatened in Minnesota, have been managed under a special regulation that controls individuals that kill livestock and pets.
  5. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, very few land use restrictions have proven necessary to facilitate wolf recovery in Montana and Minnesota.
    The service reports that land use restrictions are necessary only if illegal mortality of wolves occurs at high levels.
  6. Numerous polls taken throughout the United States consistently demonstrate that more people support wolf recovery than oppose it.
    In fact, a 2002 quantitative summary of human attitudes towards wolves found that 61% of the general population samples had positive attitudes towards wolves.