Where are the Wolves? An accessible book by Amy Fleming

Many years ago, lots of wolves lived all over our country. Pioneers hunted wolves until they were endangered.

All over the world farmers have killed wolves to protect their farm animals.

Wolves hunting together can kill cattle, caribou, moose, and deer. Click to hear a wolf howl

Now, wolves are almost extinct in northern Europe and the British Isles.

The greatest threat to wolves has been hunting by humans.

Wolves look a lot like a husky dog. Most scientists believe that our dogs today are related to wolves.

Scientists have been working for many years to study wolves and protect them.

Wolves are social animals that live in families called packs. Some large packs can have a few dozen wolves.

Wolves raise their pups in a den. All summer the mother and father wolf stay near the den to guard and care for their pups.

The mother wolf protects her newborn wolf cubs for several weeks and won’t let any other wolf near them.

The other wolves in the pack might play too roughly and hurt a cub by mistake.

While the mother wolf is nursing her newborn cubs in the den, other grown up members of the pack bring her food.

Father wolves also stay with their growing families to keep them safe.

Wolves claim an area as their own. They often mark their territories with piles of scat or sprays of urine.

Have you ever seen your own pet cat or dog do this? Each animal knows its own smell.

Just like many humans stay close to their families all their lives, many wolves stay in the same pack year after year.

Wolves howl to let other wolves know where they are. Gray wolves have many different calls and choruses.

Sometimes a whole pack howls together before going on a hunt.

The End