Gray Wolf

Every dog on Earth — from chihuahuas to great danes — is descended from gray wolves. Wolves live in packs that are really just families: mom, dad, and their kids. They howl to find each other, warn rivals, and celebrate together.

Gray wolves live across the northern half of the world: the forests, mountains and tundra of North America, Europe and Asia. They are long-legged, deep-chested and built for travel, with big paws that spread out on snow like snowshoes. A wolf's thick double coat keeps it warm sleeping outside in a blizzard, and its nose is one of the best in the animal kingdom. Wolves are not giant dogs — they are the wild ancestors of every dog, and you can see the family resemblance in how they play, bow and wag.

Wolves are carnivores that hunt large animals like elk, deer and moose, though they will also eat beavers, rabbits and even berries when they can get them. A single wolf cannot bring down a moose, so the pack works together, testing a herd to find an animal that is old, young or sick and then chasing it over long distances. Wolves can trot for hours, covering up to 30 miles in a day while they search for food. When a hunt succeeds, everyone eats, and the adults carry food back in their stomachs to bring up for the pups.

A wolf pack is simply a family: a mother and father and their pups from the last year or two. Pups are born deaf and blind in a den in spring, and the whole pack helps raise them, bringing food and standing guard while the parents rest. Wolves howl to gather the family, to warn other packs away and, as far as anyone can tell, because they enjoy it. Gray wolves are listed as least concern worldwide, but they were wiped out across much of Europe and the United States and are only slowly returning to places like Yellowstone.

Here is every gray wolf fact from this page and the gray wolf quiz in one list — handy for a school project or a car-ride quiz.

1. A wolf pack is usually just a family — parents and their grown-up pups.
2. Wolf howls can be heard up to 6 miles away in open country.
3. Wolves can trot up to 30 miles in a single day looking for food.
4. Wolf pups are born deaf and blind, and the whole pack helps raise them.
5. Every dog breed in the world is descended from wolves.
6. The whole pack works together to find food and raise the young.
7. Hunting big prey is much easier when the whole pack helps.
8. Older pack members babysit and bring food to the tiny pups.
9. Wolves can handle freezing tundra and thick forests alike.
10. Wolves help keep nature in balance by hunting deer and elk.

❓ Common questions about gray wolfs

No — gray wolfs are wild animals that belong in the wild, and keeping one would be unsafe and almost always illegal. But if gray wolfs are your favorite, here's the closest pet you actually can welcome home:

Meet the DogBecause every dog descends from the wolf — a dog is a wolf you can actually live with. See care guide →

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