top of page
CANADIAN GRAY WOLF
The Much Maligned Gray Wolf
General Biology
The Canadian gray wolf (Canis lupus irremotus) is a gray wolf subspecies, commonly called the 'Rocky Mountain wolf'. Canadian wolves come in various colors, ranging from gray, black, and white. Canadian wolves generally weigh 70 to 150 lbs and stand 2-3 feet tall (26-32 inches). The typical lifespan of a Canadian wolf in the wild is roughly 2-3 years.
Their diet consists mainly of ungulates such as elk, deer, bison, and occasionally moose. Gray wolves typically breed between the months of February and April. Canadian wolves inhabit the northwestern United States; which comprises Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington and the Canadian regions where the Rocky Mountains extend.
Brief History
In the 17th century, Ernest Thompson Seton estimated 2 million gray wolves roamed Northern America and Mexico before the Westward expansion. In the 1800s, when Europeans arrived, native animals such as bison were eradicated and domestic animals like cattle were introduced.
With the wolves' natural prey now absent, livestock became their new food source, which spawned persecution and human-caused endangerment. By the 1950s, gray wolves were nearly eradicated due to a government-sponsored extermination campaign. However, the gray wolf later became one of the first species to be placed on the Endangered Species Act of 1974.
The Issues
On February 10, 2022, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White ruled to reinstate federal protections for gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the lower 48. However, this ruling does not include wolves within the Northern Rocky Mountain region (Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming), where the majority of the slaughter occurs. In the Northern Rocky Mountain region alone, between 500 and 1,000 wolves are killed each year via hunting and trapping.
To this day, lawmakers continuously attack the Endangered Species Act, evidenced by bills such as the 'Trust the Science Act'. If gray wolves were to be delisted, thousands more will be killed, not in the name of "management" but rather out-of-date myths.
bottom of page