- Skip to global NPS navigation
- Skip to the main content
- Skip to the footer section
Exiting nps.gov
Wolf ecology basics.
NPS Photo / Steve Arthur
Leaving Home
NPS Photo / Nathan Kostegian
Leader of the Pack
- Leading pack travel
- Scent marking
- Food ownership
Wolf Territories
Wolves in parks.
Learn more about wolves and wolf research at Denali National Park, in Alaska.
Learn about wolves and wolf research at Yellowstone National Park
Learn more about wolves and wolf research at Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, in Alaska.
Learn more about wolves and wolf research at Lake Clark National Park, in Alaska.
Learn more about wolves and wolf research at Voyageurs National Park, in Minnesota.
Learn more about wolves and wolf research at Isle Royale National Park, in Michigan.
Last updated: October 22, 2021
The Zoo is free to visit, but entry passes are required for all guests, including infants.
Today's hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last entry 5 p.m.)
Elephant Cam
See the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Asian elephants — Spike, Bozie, Kamala, Swarna and Maharani — both inside the Elephant Community Center and outside in their yards.
Now more than ever, we need your support. Make a donation to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute today!
Become a Member
Members are our strongest champions of animal conservation and wildlife research. When you become a member, you also receive exclusive benefits, like special opportunities to meet animals, discounts at Zoo stores and more.
Education Calendar
Find and register for free programs and webinars.
About the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Why Do Wolves Howl? And Other Top Wolf Questions Answered
You asked the internet, we answered..
Today, we answer some of the most-searched questions about gray wolves, the largest members of the canine family!
Why do gray wolves howl at the moon?
We hate to burst your bubble, but it is a myth that wolves howl at the moon!
Howling may be heard at night, but it is not a behavior directed at the moon. Instead, it is used as a social rally call, a hail to hunt or as a territorial expression. Did you know that individuals have different howls that can be heard by other wolves 6-7 mile away?
A howl can even help a lost wolf find its way home. A wolf separated from its pack uses a “lonesome howl” — a shortened call that rises in pitch. If answered, the wolf then responds with deep, even howls to inform the pack of its location.
Do gray wolves hibernate?
No, gray wolves stay active throughout the winter. One of the few times they will seek shelter is to create maternity dens. These dens may be in rock crevices, hollow logs or overturned stumps, but most often are burrows dug by the parents.
Why do gray wolves travel in packs?
The gray wolf is one of the most social carnivores. A wolf pack typically has five to eight individuals, but as many as 36 have been reported in one pack. These family groups typically consist of an adult pair, called the alpha, and their offspring.
The alpha pair guides the group’s activity and takes control at critical times, such as during a hunt. A young wolf may venture out on its own, exploring the fringes of its territory before deciding whether to leave its parental pack behind.
How do gray wolves communicate?
In addition to howling, barking and growling, gray wolves use scent marking to maintain pack territories. Body language is also an important communication tool.
Dominant wolves may display raised hackles (the hair on the back of the neck), bared teeth, wrinkled foreheads and erect, forward-pointing ears. Conversely, a less dominant animal may lower its tail and body position, expose its throat, peel back its lips and fold back its ears.
Do gray wolves mate for life?
A wolf pack’s alpha pair is typically the only pair to breed and may mate for life.
Do gray wolves have predators?
Gray wolves once had one of the largest natural ranges of any terrestrial mammal in the Northern Hemisphere, but expansion into the western U.S. placed wolves and humans in conflict from the start. Cattle ranches believed wolves were a threat to their livelihood, and a history of hunting and poisoning devastated wolf populations, bringing them to the brink of extinction.
In 1973, the Endangered Species Act helped reestablish wolf populations. A combination of legal protection, human migration to more urban areas and land-use changes has helped stabilize them since, and in 1995, they were reintroduced to the northern Rocky Mountains.
How do gray wolves hunt?
Hunting in packs allows gray wolves to take down prey larger than themselves, including caribou, moose, deer and bison. They often hunt at night and will catch prey as a team or chase prey toward the remaining members of the pack as a trap.
What do gray wolves eat?
Gray wolves eat about 3-4 pounds of food per day. In addition to hunting large prey, they also catch beavers, rabbits and fish. They will even eat the occasional berry.
Visit American Trail to see the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s gray wolves , Crystal and Coby.
What’s a lone wolf? And why do wolves disperse?
Lone wolves and dispersal, what’s a lone wolf and why do wolves disperse.
The term “lone wolf” is often used in popular culture today. But where did the term lone wolf come from? And what does it mean?
We’re here to answer that question today.
Put simply, the term “lone wolf” describes a pack wolf that happens to temporarily be traveling alone, which is often the case during summer, or one that has dispersed from its natal pack. The latter wolves set off by themselves.
There are various hypotheses, including mate competition, inbreeding avoidance and resource competition.
“Dispersal functions to help wolves find the necessary combination of a wolf-pack-free area, food resources, and a suitable mate,” according to a 2003 article by Steven H. Fritts, Robert O. Stephenson, Robert D. Hayes, and Luigi Boitani.
What else do we know?
One of the main research papers written on this topic studied dispersal patterns of radio-collared wolves from 21 packs in northeastern Minnesota from 1969 to 1989. It was written by Eric Gese and L. David Mech.
The study included 316 radio-collared wolves, and 75 were considered to be dispersers.
Mech and Gese found that most dispersing wolves left their natal territory when they were yearlings. Many left between 11-12 months old, and others at 17-19 months old
Female dispersal peaked in April, and male dispersal peaked in October.
Wolves dispersed at higher rates when there was a preponderance of young wolves in a pack, Gese and Mech wrote. There also appears to be a connection between low prey numbers and dispersal.
Rolf Peterson and others observed, for example, that when prey declined on Isle Royale, more wolves left their packs.
During times of undernutrition, aggression may increase in a wolf pack, forcing young subordinate animals to leave, researcher Erik Zimen wrote. Aggression also increases during the breeding season, the time when most yearling wolves typically disperse, he said.
Distance traveled by lone wolves
The wolves in the study by Gese and Mech traveled between five and 220 miles when they dispersed. The mean minimum distance traveled by all dispersers was 48 miles. The farthest straight-line distance a wolf has been know to travel was wolf OR93 that left northern Oregon and made it to Lebec, California before being hit by a car, some 700+ miles away.
Other animals
Wolves aren’t the only animals to display this behavior. Many mammals exhibit it, too.
Still curious?
To learn more about the dispersal of wolves, consider reading the following papers:
Dispersal of wolves in northeastern Minnesota: https://y86aca.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/162-Dispersal-of-wolves-in-NE-MN.pdf
Unexplained patterns of gray wolf natal dispersal: https://y86aca.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UnexplainedDispersal.pdf .
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.
What are gray wolves?
Wolves are legendary because of their spine-tingling howl, which they use to communicate . A lone wolf howls to attract the attention of his pack, while communal howls may send territorial messages from one pack to another. Some howls are confrontational. Much like barking domestic dogs, wolves may simply begin howling because a nearby wolf has already begun.
Population and conservation
Wolves are the largest members of the dog family. Adaptable gray wolves are by far the most common and were once found all over the Northern Hemisphere. But wolves and humans have a long adversarial history . Though they almost never attack humans, wolves are considered one of the animal world's most fearsome natural villains. They do attack domestic animals, and countless wolves have been shot, trapped, and poisoned because of this tendency.
In the lower 48 states, gray wolves were hunted to near extinction, though some populations survived and others have since been reintroduced. Few gray wolves survive in Europe, though many live in Alaska, Canada, and Asia.
Wolf pack behavior
Wolves live and hunt in packs of around six to ten animals. They are known to roam large distances, perhaps 12 miles in a single day. These social animals cooperate on their preferred prey—large animals such as deer, elk, and moose. When they are successful, wolves do not eat in moderation. A single animal can consume 20 pounds of meat at a sitting. Wolves also eat smaller mammals, birds, fish, lizards, snakes, and fruit.
Wolfpacks are established according to a strict hierarchy, with a dominant male at the top and his mate not far behind. Usually this male and female are the only animals of the pack to breed. All of a pack's adults help to care for young pups by bringing them food and watching them while others hunt.
Did You Know?
- It’s believed that wolves were first tamed in East Asia about 15,000 years ago.
- In Canada, beachcombing wolves swim between islands, eating crabs, clams, and other tidbits.
- Gray wolves are the planet’s most widespread large land mammals after humans and livestock.
- A wolf pack is two or more wolves that have a defined territory.
- Wolves can go for more than a week without eating.
- History & Culture
- Photography
- Environment
- Paid Content
History & Culture
- History Magazine
- Mind, Body, Wonder
- Terms of Use
- Privacy Policy
- Your US State Privacy Rights
- Children's Online Privacy Policy
- Interest-Based Ads
- About Nielsen Measurement
- Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
- Nat Geo Home
- Attend a Live Event
- Book a Trip
- Inspire Your Kids
- Shop Nat Geo
- Visit the D.C. Museum
- Learn About Our Impact
- Support Our Mission
- Advertise With Us
- Customer Service
- Renew Subscription
- Manage Your Subscription
- Work at Nat Geo
- Sign Up for Our Newsletters
- Contribute to Protect the Planet
Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society Copyright © 2015-2024 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
If a dispersing wolf can find a mate, the new pair can form a new pack if they maintain an unclaimed area with sufficient food over time. Lone dispersing wolves have traveled as far as 500 miles in search of a new home. Established wolf packs usually live within a specific territory.
Wolves attain their adult height, length and weight in the first one to two years. Most look like adults by late autumn of their first year. Red wolves are intermediate in size and appearance between a gray wolf and a coyote. Adult female red wolves weigh 40 to 75 pounds, while males weigh from 50 to 85 pounds.
Territory size generally got smaller as the density of low-use roads increased. Low-use roads make it easier for wolves to travel, and an increased ability to travel means wolves can find vulnerable prey and defend their territory more readily. And the easier wolves can find prey, the smaller the territory they need to have enough food.
Why do gray wolves travel in packs? The gray wolf is one of the most social carnivores. A wolf pack typically has five to eight individuals, but as many as 36 have been reported in one pack. These family groups typically consist of an adult pair, called the alpha, and their offspring.
In Washington, wolf packs average around 5 members, although pack sizes have ranged from 2 to 15 wolves. For instance, at the end of the 2022 calendar year the Napeequa pack consisted of two wolves while, during the same winter survey, WDFW counted 10 wolves in the Loup Loup pack.
4) How far do wolves travel? Wolf packs usually hunt within a specific territory. It is not uncommon for territories to be as large as 50 square miles but they may even extend up to 1,000 square miles in areas where prey is scarce. Wolves often cover large areas to hunt, traveling as far as 30 miles a day. Although
The mean minimum distance traveled by all dispersers was 48 miles. The farthest straight-line distance a wolf has been know to travel was wolf OR93 that left northern Oregon and made it to Lebec, California before being hit by a car, some 700+ miles away. Other animals. Wolves aren’t the only animals to display this behavior.
Those who stay with the pack may eventually replace a parent to become a breeding animal (alpha). Large packs seem to result from fewer young wolves’ leaving the group and from litters’ being produced by more than one female. Wolves that leave their packs are known to have traveled as far as 886 km (550 miles).
Adaptable gray wolves are by far the most common and were once found all over the Northern Hemisphere. ... Wolf pack behavior. ... Travel; The 31 best Greek islands to visit in 2024 ...
Each wolf pack comprises about five wolves, and each pack’s territory in the park covers approximately 60 square miles, the team wrote on Facebook. Wolves are highly territorial, and packs don ...