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General Facts
- Wolves have no natural predators except people.
- Wolves can cover extremely large distances and have been known to travel up to 15 km (about 9 mi.) a day.
- A typical wolf pack may have a range of up to 130 sq. km (50-sq mi.) of territory.
Wolf Behavior Facts
- Wolves are social animals that depend on each other for food and protection.
- A wolf pack, which will tend to stay together, can vary in number from a pair of animals to 10 wolves. Adult wolves share responsibility for caring for young.
- Wolves are generally afraid of people and avoid contact with them.
- Wolves can kill animals that are quite large, usually by isolating a weak or young animal, and chasing and attacking it in a group.
- Canadian wolves generally prey on elk.
- Normally, wolves consume everything they kill. Other predators or scavengers will quickly consume a dead animal, making it difficult to determine a cause of death.
Policy Facts
- Wolves are often released in a process known as soft release; they are kept in pens to help them adjust to a new environment for 10 weeks. This process significantly eliminates the wolves' homing instinct and prevents them from trying to return to their original territory.
- The federal government pays for the wolf relocation program.
- Many ranchers have federal grazing preferences--they are allowed to let their animals graze on federal land.
- The Endangered Species Act allows a two-strike policy; after its first interaction with livestock, a wolf is moved to a distant site. After its second interaction, a wolf may be trapped or shot.
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