Wolf 狼 (3)

Baby wolves are called pups. Four to six pups are usually born in each litter. Pups weigh one pound at birth and can’t see or hear. Newborn pups can’t keep themselves warm. They need mom for body heat. They snuggle safely in their den with their mother for the first two weeks. 

 Every day they grow bigger and stronger.  Pups open their eyes when they are about two weeks old. At about three weeks old, the pups leave the den to explore. Pups play with “toys” such as a small dead animal from a kill, or a piece of its bone or fur.

When the pups are bigger, other wolves in the pack care for them, too. They bring the pups food. They also babysit them while the rest of the pack is hunting. Wolf pups start hunting with the pack when they are six months old. When young wolves are two to three years old, they leave to form their own packs.

A wolf’s sense of smell is about 100 times greater than a human’s sense of smell.

Each wolf has its own howl, which sounds different from the howl of other wolves.

Wolves usually won’t hunt outside their own hunting grounds.

An alpha wolf shows who’s boss by walking tall with its tail and ears held high.

Wolves roam long distances - as far as 12 miles in one day!

Wolves rarely attack people. They are afraid of them. But wolves do attack farm animals. Mostly for this reason, people have killed millions of wolves. So many wolves were killed that there were no longer any wolves in a lot of places.

Some people worried that wolves might become extinct. So they decided to help. They passes laws to protect wolves. Today wolves are returning to many places around the world.