Cheyenne's Howl

Printed in Mountain Messenger on Friday February 14, 1997

Wolf Species

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A question I am often asked is, "Are there any wild wolves in Colorado?" From what I hear, I am sorry to say that there are none, but there are rumors going around that we may be reintroduced in the Four Corners Area.

Another question I get is, "How many kinds of wolves are there in North America?" There are actually several kinds. The territory in and around the southern parts of the United States is where the red wolf called home. It is the smallest and unfortunately it is probably extinct out in the wild, however there are some in captivity and there are hopes to reintroduce them in the future.

As most of you know, I am basically gray wolf, the most common in North America. Today we are only found in the area around the Great Lakes, Canada, and Alaska. Throughout the rest of the area, we have been hunted to extinction. A gray wolf, also known as the timber wolf, is not always gray in color. It can be black, gray, brown, white, or any combination of these colors.

A subspecies of the gray wolf is the Mexican wolf. It was found in Mexico and in the southwest parts of the United States. Unfortunately, it also was nearly hunted to extinction, however it is now part of a recovery and captive breeding plan. There is a current captive population of 152 Mexican wolves being held at 29 facilities. Hopes are that in the near future they will be released into the wild in parts of Arizona and New Mexico.

Finally, there are the Arctic wolves. They are probably the purest of all the breeds and usually an off white in color. Being that they live in such an isolated area around the Arctic circle, there has been limited contact with humans, and therefore they have been able to survive.

DID YOU KNOW?

*Wolves can run up to 35 miles per hour and can easily cover 50 miles per day.

*Each wolf pack has a dominant pair, male and female, called the Alpha pair.

P.S.  In closing today, I would like to say "Hello" to fellow columnist, LouAnn. I noticed when I save my articles for my scrapbook, that your picture and articles are on the back of mine. Let's get together and swap some Reno stories. I'll bet we could get some juicy rumors going about him.

Cheyenne