The Arctic Wolf is the only wolf species fortunate enough not to be on the endangered list due to its habitat being too harsh for humans.
The Arctic Wolf (Canis lupus arctos), also known as the White Wolf, is a subspecies of the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus), a mammal in the Dog family. They inhabit the Arctic Archipelago of Canada, parts of Alaska, and northern Greenland, located above the 70th parallel.
Their habitats are natural dens that they further excavate into two compartments: one for food storage and the other for resting and sheltering the pups.
Currently, very few scientists dare to study these areas in the extremely long and dark winter conditions—even the indigenous Inuit community lives further south of the Arctic Wolf’s range. As a result, the life of this wolf species still holds many mysteries.
The Arctic Wolf can endure the harsh climate of the polar region. They can survive in temperatures below freezing for many years, endure complete darkness for five months, and can go without food for several weeks.
Arctic Wolves typically move in packs of 2-20 individuals. They live in small family groups: a pair of parents (an alpha male and female) along with their pups. Both parents hunt and care for the young. Once the pups are old enough, they leave the family to live independently while seeking their own territory. They live alone and avoid other wolves until they can find a mate and breed.
When old enough, the pups leave the family to live independently while searching for their own territory. They live alone and avoid other wolves until they can find a mate and breed. When they find a suitable territory, Arctic Wolves mark their “territorial range” with their scent and then attract other lone wolves to live within that territory. When a female in the pack becomes pregnant, she leaves the pack to find a den for giving birth. If the ice surface is too hard, the mother wolf will look for an empty den to avoid the effort of digging.
The gestation period for Arctic Wolves lasts about 63-75 days, and they give birth around late May to early June, more than a month later than Gray Wolves. Each litter consists of 2-3 pups (compared to 4-5 for Gray Wolves), although there have been litters with up to 12 pups. The smaller litter size is believed to be due to the limited food supply in the Arctic, which prevents the Arctic Wolves from maintaining a larger “population.”
Newborn pups weigh about 1 pound (approximately 0.45 kg) and are unable to see or hear. They are completely dependent on their mother’s care and protection. At three weeks old, they are allowed to leave the den. Other wolves in the pack also participate in caring for the pups when their mother is busy hunting.
Like other wolf species, Arctic Wolves hunt in packs; their primary targets are caribou and muskoxen, although Arctic hares, seals, rock ptarmigan, lemmings, and waterfowl are also on their list of prey. When hunting rodents, Arctic Wolves must track the scent of their prey and find its burrow to flush it out. Arctic Wolves almost never attack humans.
Due to the limited prey in the Arctic region, Arctic Wolves must “sweep” across a vast area (sometimes up to 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi)) and must follow migrating herds of caribou southward in the winter to find food. They are not fast animals but possess excellent endurance and resilience, so their strategy is to chase their prey until it becomes exhausted and collapses.
