Arctic Wolf

by Donna Kennedy

Title

Arctic Wolf

Artist

Donna Kennedy

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

Original Fine Art Photography and digital artwork by Donna Kennedy-
Photographed ar Bear Country USA, Rapid City, South Dakota

Classified as “Canis lupus arctos” The arctic wolf is a subspecies of the gray wolf. Others include the Timber wolf of America and the common wolf of Eurasia.
Arctic wolves inhabit some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world: tundra, rolling hills, glacier valleys, ice fields, shallow lakes and green flats. They can live in places where the temperature is consistently below zero and the ground is always frozen. The arctic wolf is one of the few mammals that can tolerate these conditions. They have a keen sense of sight, smell, and hearing. The wolf preys on lemmings and arctic hare, but its most substantial source of food is the musk ox and caribou. Since there is not much grass on the “frozen tundra”, the wolf must travel great distances to find food.

A single wolf pack often travels distances up to 800 square miles in search of prey. When the temperature drops, the pack will follow the migrating animals south. Wolves usually live in small packs, or family groups, that consist of a breeding pair (the alpha male and female), their cubs, and their unmated offspring. All the wolves in the pack look up to and follow the Alpha male and female. The pack cooperates in feeding and caring for the cubs. Lone wolves are usually young males that have left the pack in search of their own territories. They avoid other wolves, unless they are potential mates. When a lone wolf finds unoccupied territory, it will claim it by marking it with its scent. The wolf will then start its own pack when other lone wolves enter the territory.

The wolves are always on the move in the fall and winter. But after mating in March, the pregnant female will leave the pack to find a nursery den. Since the ground is often frozen, she is often forced to return to an old den. The cubs are born deaf, blind and helpless. They are totally dependent upon their mother, and she in turn relies on her mate to bring her the food she needs. After about four weeks, the cubs are able to eat meat. The whole pack shares in the job of feeding them with regurgitated meat from a kill. After about a year, the cubs break away of their dependence on their mother and go out on their own.

Thank you to the Administrators that Featured this photo in the following Groups:
-USA Photographers ONLY
-Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery
-Your Story of Art
-Fine Art America Professionals
-Canon Full Frame Cameras
-Real Animal Photographs
-Our 4-Legged Friends
-Animals and Birds in the Wild
-Wildlife One A Day
-Just Perfect
-ABC Group-K for KIP

Uploaded

February 3rd, 2023

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