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wolf

wolf

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

wolf carnivorous mammal of the genus Canis in the dog family. Once distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, wild wolves are now confined to the wilder parts of a reduced range. Three wolf species (the gray wolf, red wolf, and coyote) are generally recognized, although there is much local variation within them.

Other living members of the genus Canis include the jackal and the dog, which is classified as a subspecies ( Canis lupus familiaris of the gray wolf. All Canis species can interbreed, producing fertile offspring; the Eskimos have interbred wolves and dogs to produce hardy animals for pulling sleds. The maned wolf, Chrysocyon brachyurus, found in wooded areas of central South America, is not a true wolf, although it is a canine (member of the dog family). It has extremely long, stiltlike legs and an erectile mane on the neck. Strand wolf is a name for the brown hyena (not a canine) of Africa. The aardwolf is also a member of the hyena family.

The Gray Wolf

The most widespread is the gray wolf, C. lupus, of circumpolar distribution; in addition to the domestic dog, its subspecies include the timber wolf, the arctic wolf, and the dingo . Extinct in W Europe except in a few isolated pockets, it is still found in SE Europe, Russia, and much of Asia. In the New World it is found in wilderness forests and tundra from Greenland and the shores and islands of the Arctic Ocean to the extreme N United States. There is a healthy population in Alaska, but it has had endangered-species status in the 48 contiguous United States (except for Minnesota, where it has been listed as "threatened" ). Thus protected, it has steadily increased its range since the late 1980s, especially in the Great Lakes region in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan and in the states surrounding Yellowstone National Park, where Canadian wolves were introduced in 1995 in the hope of restoring balance to the Yellowstone ecosystem. Canadian wolves were also introduced in central Idaho in 1995 and 1996, and natural reproduction has since steadily increased the numbers of both populations. Wolves have also migrated into NW Montana from Canada and established themselves there.

The gray wolf is similar in appearance to a German shepherd, with a thick, shaggy coat, erect ears, and a bushy tail. Its fur is usually gray mixed with black and brown but may be nearly black or, in the Arctic, nearly white. An average-sized adult male is about 3 ft (90 cm) high at the shoulder and 4 ft (120 cm) long, excluding the tail, and weighs about 100 lb (45 kg); some individuals weigh twice as much.

Active mostly at night, gray wolves prey on birds and small mammals and on weak members of larger species, such as deer; they also eat vegetable matter and some carrion. They can run at speeds of up to 35 mi (56 km) per hour and can clear 16 ft (4.9 m) in a single bound. While hunting they can maintain a speed of about 20 mi (32 km) per hr for many hours, eventually wearing down even the swiftest prey. They roam over large areas and may migrate in response to migrations by or numerical fluctuations in their prey species.

Gray wolves hunt singly and in family groups, called packs, which typically include about five individuals. Under severe conditions, especially in winter, several families may join together, forming a pack of up to 30 individuals, rarely more. During the mating season a wolf pair establish a den, usually in a cave or underground burrow, in which they raise the young; both parents bring home food. A pair is believed to remain mated for life.

Because of farmers' fears of raids on livestock, which wolves usually take only when wild prey is unavailable, gray wolves have been hunted ruthlessly, resulting in their extermination in all but the most sparsely populated areas. North American gray wolves have not been known to attack humans without provocation, although Siberian gray wolves have on occasion attacked riders of horses or horse-drawn vehicles. There are many stories of human children being raised by gray wolves, particularly in India, but none has been authenticated.

Red Wolves and Coyotes

The red wolf, C. rufus, is a smaller species that varies in color from reddish gray to nearly black. It has been nearly eradicated from most of its range in the forest and brush country of the S central United States and is listed as endangered. However, captive breeding programs are slowly increasing its numbers, and some have been reintroduced to the wild. The red wolf is similar in behavior to, and may be a hybrid of, the prairie wolf, C. latrans, better known as the coyote . Smallest of the wolves, coyotes are still widespread in W North America. Real estate development in their traditional habitat, combined with the opening up of the ecological niche formerly filled by gray wolves and mountain lions, has prompted coyotes to greatly increase their range; they are now common in the Northeast and have developed small populations in large urban centers such as Chicago and New York City.

Classification

Wolves are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Canidae.

Bibliography

See E. Zimen, Wolf: A Species in Danger (1981); F. H. Harrington and P. C. Paquet, Wolves of the World (1982); J. L. Gittleman Carnivore Behavior, Ecology and Evolution (1989).

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wolf

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

wolf / woŏlf/ • n. (pl. wolves / woŏlvz/ ) 1. a wild carnivorous mammal that is the largest member of the dog family, living and hunting in packs. It is native to both Eurasia and North America, but has been widely exterminated. • Canis lupus, family Canidae; it is the chief ancestor of the domestic dog. ∎  used in names of similar or related mammals, e.g., maned wolf, Tasmanian wolf. 2. used in similes and metaphors to refer to a rapacious, ferocious, or voracious person or thing. ∎ inf. a man who habitually seduces women. 3. a harsh or out-of-tune effect produced when playing particular notes or intervals on a musical instrument, caused either by the instrument's construction or by divergence from equal temperament. • v. [tr.] devour (food) greedily: he wolfed down his breakfast. PHRASES: cry wolf call for help when it is not needed, with the effect that one is not believed when one really does need help. hold (or have) a wolf by the ears be in a precarious position.keep the wolf from the door have enough money to avert hunger or starvation (used hyperbolically): I work part-time to pay the mortgage and keep the wolf from the door.throw someone to the wolves leave someone to be roughly treated or criticized without trying to help or defend them.a wolf in sheep's clothing a person or thing that appears friendly or harmless but is really hostile. DERIVATIVES: wolf·ish adj.wolf·ish·ly adv.wolf·like / -ˌlīk/ adj. ORIGIN: Old English wulf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wolf and German Wolf, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin lupus and Greek lukos. The verb dates from the mid 19th cent.

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wolf

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

wolf in figurative and allusive use, the wolf is often taken as the type of savagery and rapacity, explicitly or implicitly contrasted with the meek and vulnerable sheep. From the mid 19th century, the term has also been used as an informal designation of a sexually aggressive male.

A wolf is the emblem of St Edmund the Martyr, St Francis of Assisi, and (as a play on his name) the 10th-century Swabian bishop St Wolfgang.
cry wolf call for help when it is not needed, with the effect that one is not believed when one really does need help, with allusion to the fable of the shepherd boy who deluded people with false cries of ‘Wolf!’; when he was actually attacked and killed, his genuine appeals for help were ignored.
have a wolf by the ears be in a precarious position; the expression is of classical origin, and means that the present situation can neither be maintained nor safely ended.
keep the wolf from the door have enough money to avert hunger or starvation; the wolf here is a type of something that will devour and destroy, as hunger or famine.
wolf in sheep's clothing a person or thing that appears friendly or harmless but is really hostile; often with biblical allusion to Matthew 7:15, ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.’
wolf's head an archaic term for an outlaw, from cry wolf's head, in Anglo-Saxon England uttering a cry for the pursuit of an outlaw as one to be hunted down like a wolf.

See also hunger drives the wolf out of the wood, throw someone to the wolves.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "wolf." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "wolf." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-wolf.html

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wolf

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

wolf Wild, dog-like carnivorous mammal, once widespread in the USA and Eurasia, especially the grey wolf (Canis lupus), which is now restricted to the USA and Asia. It is powerfully built, with a deep-chested body and a long, bushy tail. It has earned a reputation for savagery and cunning from occasional attacks on livestock and human beings. Length: to 2m (6.6ft), including the tail. Family Canidae.
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Wolf

A Dictionary of First Names | 2006 | | Copyright

Wolf ♂ From the name of the animal (Old English wolf), in part a transferred use of the surname which originated as a nickname from this word, or an adoption of a German short form of any of the various compound names (such as Wolfgang and Wolfram;) with this first element.
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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Wolf." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Wolf." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Wolf.html

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Wolf." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Wolf.html

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wolf

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

wolf pl. wolves OE. wulf = OS. wulf, OHG. wolf (Du., G. wolf), ON. ulfr, Goth. wulfs :- Gmc. wulfaz:- IE. *wḷqo, repr. also by L. lupus, Gr. lúkos, OSl. vlǔkǔ, Lith. vil̃kas, Skr. vŕka-.
Hence wolfish (-ISH1) XVI (†wolvish XV).
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T. F. HOAD. "wolf." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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wolf

A Dictionary of the Bible | 1997 | | Copyright

wolf A fierce creature which hunted by itself, rather than in packs, in Palestine (John 10: 12) at night (Hab. 1: 8). Its vicious habits were so greatly feared (Ezek. 22: 27; Zeph. 3: 3; Acts 20: 29) that its powers of destruction were proverbial (Jer. 5: 6).
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W. R. F. BROWNING. "wolf." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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wolf

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music | 1996 | | Copyright

wolf.
1. Jarring sound which sometimes occurs from bowed str. instrs. when body of instr. resonates to a particular note.

2. Out-of-tune effect on old orgs. (before equal temperament) when playing in certain extreme keys.
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MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "wolf." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Wolf

A Dictionary of First Names | 2006 | | Copyright

Wolf ♂ (German) Short form of any of several Germanic names formed with wolf ‘wolf’, especially Wolfgang.
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wolf

A Dictionary of Zoology | 1999 | | Copyright

wolf (Canis lupus) See CANIDAE.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "wolf." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology | 2004 | | Copyright

wolf. See ANIMALS.
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JAMES MacKILLOP. "wolf." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Wolf

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

Wolf •Ralph •elf, herself, himself, itself, myself, oneself, ourself, self, shelf, themself, thyself, yourself •mantelshelf • bookshelf • sylph •golf, Rolf, Wolf •Randolph • Rudolph •Wolfe, Woolf •aardwolf • werewolf • Beowulf •engulf, gulf •Ranulf

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Wolves and the Wolf Myth in American Literature.(Book review)
Magazine article from: Southwestern American Literature; 3/22/2009
Wolves under fire.(Editorials)(Editorial)
Newspaper article from: The Register Guard (Eugene, OR); 12/21/2011
WOLVES TIED UP IN HOOPS; Early promise ripped apart by Rangers WOLVES 0 QPR 3...
Newspaper article from: Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England); 9/18/2011

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