Mammals · Carnivora · Canidae

Gray Wolf

Canis lupus signatus

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

The Iberian wolf is the subspecies of grey wolf native to the Iberian Peninsula, described by Ángel Cabrera in 1907. It is told apart by its somewhat smaller size than the central European wolf, its greyish brown coat and its characteristic dark markings. It lives in family packs holding territories of 150 to 350 km² and feeds on roe deer, wild boar and red deer and, in farmed areas, on livestock and carrion. After coming close to extinction in the mid-20th century, it recovered to occupy Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castile and León and northern Portugal.

Weight

25 kg – 45 kg

Size

1 m – 1.4 m

Lifespan

10 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

Estimated population

Some 2,000-2,500 individuals in Spain (the 2012-2014 national survey: 297 packs) and a few hundred in Portugal

Temperate forestMountainGrasslandCarnivore Nocturnal Temperate forest Mountain Grassland Mammal

2countries 7parks34same family

Fun facts

GeneralA subspecies of the Iberian Peninsula alone; its population is concentrated north of the Duero.
The epithet signatus means marked and refers to the dark patches on the upper lip, the black bands on the forelegs and the dark patch on the tail.
It is the only wolf in the world that coexists stably with human densities as high as those of north-western Spain.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Sierras, woodland and farm-and-forest mosaics of north-western Iberia
Sexual maturity: 22 months
Gestation / incubation: 63 days
Litter / clutch size: 5

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/