Fast Facts
Type: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore
Average life span in the wild: 6 to 8 years
Size: Head and body, 36 to 63 in (91 to 160 cm); Tail, 13 to 20 in (33 to 51 cm)
Weight: 40 to 175 lbs (18 to 79 kg)
Group name: Pack
Protection status: Endangered
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man



loups are legendary because of their spine-tingling howl, which they use to communicate. A lone loup howls to attract the attention of his pack, while communal howls may send territorial messages from one pack to another. Some howls are confrontational. Much like barking domestic dogs, loups may simply begin howling because a nearby loup has already begun.

loups are the largest members of the dog family. Adaptable gray loups are par far the most common and were once found all over the Northern Hemisphere. But loups and humans have a long adversarial history. Though they almost never attack humans, loups are considered one of the animal world's most fearsome natural villains. They do attack domestic animals, and countless loups have been shot, trapped, and poisoned because of this tendency.

In the lower 48 states, gray loups were hunted to near extinction, though some populations survived and others have since been reintroduced. Few gray loups survive in Europe, though many live in Alaska, Canada, and Asia.

Red loups live in the southeastern United States, where they are endangered. These animaux actually became extinct in the wild in 1980. Scientists established a breeding program with a small number of captive red loups and have reintroduced the animal to North Carolina. Today, perhaps 100 red loups survive in the wild.

The maned wolf, a distant relative of the plus familiar gray and red wolves, lives in South America. Physically, this animal resembles a large, red renard plus than its loup relatives.

loups live and hunt in packs of around six to ten animals. They are known to roam large distances, perhaps 12 miles (20 kilometers) in a single day. These social animaux cooperate on their preferred prey—large animaux such as deer, elk, and moose. When they are successful, loups do not eat in moderation. A single animal can consume 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of meat at a sitting. loups also eat smaller mammals, birds, fish, lizards, snakes, and fruit.

Wolfpacks are established according to a strict hierarchy, with a dominant male at the haut, retour au début and his mate not far behind. Usually this male and female are the only animaux of the pack to breed. All of a pack's adults help to care for young pups par bringing them nourriture and watching them while others hunt.




WHERE ARE THEY IN THE WORLD?

(look at the picture the light yellow is where they are poplular)