LIFE SPAN
16 years in captivity, in the wild they exceptionally live to the age of 10 years or more (the oldest recorded individual was 14 years old)
REPRODUCTION
Sexual and social maturation at the age of two; mating once a year, from mid-January to mid-March
LITTER SIZE 5-8
pups are born in the den (usually in April)
DIET
mainly deer, roe deer, wild boar, but may supplement their diet with carrion, small vertebrates, invertebrates and even plants; occasionally livestock, especially sheep, are included in the diet
SIZE
Wolves are about the same size as German Shepherds: 100-120 cm long, with a shoulder height of 60-90 cm
BODY MASS
Adult wolves weigh 30 to 50 kg, females are about 20% lighter than males
FUR
usually beige, with yellow-brown or dark shades of brown on the top of the neck, shoulders and back
Did you know?
A wolf lives in a pack, which consists of a leading male and female with offspring of different generations. A pack in Slovenia usually has 2 to 8 members. Each pack has its own territory, the boundaries of which it marks chemically with urine and faeces, and by howling to signal to other wolves that the area is already occupied.
Pups stay in their natal pack for one to three years, then leave to find an area that is not occupied by another wolf pack and where they can start a family of their own. The longest dispersal was observed in 2012 in the case of wolf Slavec. A male wolf, fitted with a telemetry collar, travelled 1500 km, crossed the Alps and met a female in Italy, with whom he formed a new pack in an area where wolves had been absent for 150 years.
Genetic research has confirmed that the wolf is the ancestor of the domesticated dog. As a result, hybridisation between dogs can occur in areas where wolves are present. Such hybridisation may compromise the genetic identity of the wolf population and affect the behaviour, ecology and conservation value of the wolf. Free-ranging dogs therefore pose a serious threat to wolf conservation.
