Great Plains Wolf
Canis lupus nubilus
Description
The Great Plains wolf (Canis lupus nubilus) is the most common subspecies of the gray wolf in the continental United States. A typical Great Plains wolf is between 1.4 and 2 meters (4 ½ and 6 ½ feet) long, from snout to tail, weighs 27-50 kg (60-110 lbs), and may have a coat of gray, black or buff with reddish coloring.
Range and Habitat
The historic range of the Great Plains wolf was throughout the United States and the southern regions of Canada. It is currently found in the western Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. North and South Dakota officials have noted lone wolves, but evidence indicates that the wolves were dispersers from populations outside the Dakotas, and that a breeding population probably does not exist there. Average pack size for the Great plains wolf is five to six wolves.
Diet
The typical prey for the Great Plains wolf consists of white-tailed deer, moose, beaver, snowshoe hare, and smaller birds and mammals.
Conservation By the 1930s, Great Plains wolves were almost completely extirpated in much of the western United States. In Wisconsin and Michigan, the Great Plains wolf was eradicated by the mid-1960s. Only a small group of wolves survived in northeastern Minnesota along the Ontario border. In 1974, the Great Plains wolf in the Great Lakes region became fully protected as an endangered species. By 1978, Minnesota's wolf population had increased enough that the wolf was reclassified as threatened in Minnesota. The Great Plains wolf is found in the Eastern distinct population segment (DPS) categorized under the Endangered Species Act. In 2007, this DPS was removed from the endangered species list. The estimated population for the Great Plains wolves for 2006 in the United States was over 3,900 wolves.