Geographic range:
Nearctic: Canis lupus baileyi has
largely vanished from the wild and been declared an endangered species.
In the past its area of distribution stretched over Chihuahua and
Sonora states.
Physical characteristics:The Mexican
Wolf is the rarest, southernmost and most genetically distinct sub-species
of the Gray Wolf in North America. It is also one of the smallest
sub-species, reaching an overall length no greater than 4.5 feet and
a height maximum of about 32 inches.
Food Habits: Carnivorous. Wolves
eat a wide variety of food, including small animals like mice and
squirrels, large animals like deer and moose and sometimes, carrion
and plant material. Animals killed are usually young, old, or otherwise
impaired and weaker than others.
Reproduction and Behavior: Only the
alpha pair in each pack breed each year. This occurs between January
(at low latitudes) and April (at higher latitudes). A litter of 6
to 7 pups is born blind after a gestation period of about 63 days.
The pups are reared in a den composed of a natural hole or burrow.
All members of the pack care for the pups, who are fed regurgitated
meat after hunts.
Pups are weaned at about the fifth week and approach adult size by
early winter. By autumn, because pups are now capable of traveling
with the adults, the pack hunts as a unit throughout its territory.
Juveniles remain with the pack until they reach sexual maturity at
about two years, after which they may leave to search for a mate and
establish new territories, or remain as helpers.
Mortality factors affecting wolves include persecution by humans,
killing by other wolves, parasites, diseases, starvation and injuries
by prey. Wolves probably don't live more than ten years in the wild.
Wolves usually travel in packs and establish territories ranging from
30 to more than 500 square miles. They define their ranges with scent
markings and such vocalizations as growls, barks and their legendary
howl. In regions like the desert where typical prey is small, packs
may consist of 7 or less, instead of 30 or more where prey is large.
There is a clearly defined dominance hierarchy in the pack, the nucleus
of which is the breeding (alpha) pair, who mate for life. Additional
members include offspring and "helpers."
Wolves often prey on domestic animals because of their vulnerability,
which has resulted in the wolf's persecution by poisoning, trapping,
and shooting. Attacks on humans are rare and believed to occur only
in isolated cases of famine or an epidemic among wolf populations.
Habitat: Wolves can live in a great variety of habitats, ranging
from arctic tundra to forest and prairie, if adequate prey is present.
They are absent from tropical forests, desert floors and the highest
mountains.
Conservation: Until recent times,
the Mexican Wolf ranged the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts from central
Mexico to western Texas, southern New Mexico and central Arizona.
By the the turn of the century, reduction of natural prey like deer
and elk caused many wolves to begin attacking domestic livestock,
which led to intensive efforts by government agencies and individuals
to eradicate the Mexican Wolf.
These efforts were very successful, and by the 1950s, the Mexican
Wolf had been eliminated from the wild. In 1976, the Mexican Gray
Wolf was declared an endangered species and has remained so ever since.
Less than 200 Mexican Wolves now survive in zoos and museums due to
successful captive breeding programs |
|
