|Photo Credit: DocTaxon~commonswiki|
Able to tolerate years of sub-zero temperatures, months of darkness, and weeks without food, the arctic wolf lives in one of a few places on earth where it is safe from the greatest threat of all, man.
Arctic wolves inhabit some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world. In April, the air temperature rarely rises above -22 degrees F, and the ground is frozen year-round. The arctic wolf is one of the few mammals that can tolerate these conditions.
The wolf preys on lemmings and arctic hare, but its most substantial source of food is the musk ox and caribou. Because of the scarcity of grazing plants, animals must roam a large area in order to find food to survive.
Full-grown caribou and musk oxen are far too powerful for a single wolf to attack alone, so wolves must always work together as a pack when hunting large prey.
Did you know?
- Wolves will often go days without food, but can then eat up to 10 pounds of meat at one time.
- Food is so scarce in the Arctic that no part of a wolf's prey is wasted; a wolf will eat every part of an arctic hare, including the skin, fur, and bones.
- Several of the younger pack members will "babysit" the cubs while the mother wolf is hunting.