Species group · Mammals
Wolves
WAnimals has 6 species of wolf, all in the family Canidae.
- 6 species
- 1 family
- 79 countries
- 115 parks
- Weight
- 7 kg – 80 kg
- Length
- 70 cm – 1.8 m
- Lifespan
- 7 – 13 years
Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 6.
All 6 species of wolves on WAnimals
Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Least ConcernGray Wolf
Canis lupus
Polar Wolf
Canis lupus arctos
African Golden Wolf
Canis anthus
Gray Wolf
Canis lupus signatus
Ethiopian Wolf
Canis simensis
Red Wolf
Canis rufus
Conservation status
2 especies in this group están en alguna categoría de riesgo real según la UICN.
See the global conservation statusWhere they live
Recorded in 79 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…
It can cover up to 50 km in a single night's hunting.
From Gray Wolf
It howls to communicate with the pack over several kilometres.
From Gray Wolf
Its reintroduction to Yellowstone changed the park's entire ecosystem.
From Gray Wolf
It can go months without seeing the sun and cover 4,000 km a year following the musk oxen.
From Polar Wolf
In the High Arctic the sun does not set for months and then does not rise for as many again, so it has no fixed daily rhythm: it alternates hunting and rest regardless of the light.
From Polar Wolf
It is one of the few wolves that shows no instinctive fear of humans, simply because it has almost never met one.
From Polar Wolf
It has been recognised as a species only since 2015: until then it was wrongly classified as a golden jackal, in a celebrated case of evolutionary convergence.
From African Golden Wolf
The ancient Egyptians associated it with the god Anubis, and many of Egypt's canine mummies belong to this species.
From African Golden Wolf