The Greenland wolf (Canis lupus orion) is a subspecies of Grey wolf that is native to Greenland. Historically, it was heavily persecuted, but today it is fully protected. The entire population of the Greenland wolf is very small, probably about 200 individuals but with significant uncertainty due to its very remote range.
The Greenland wolf has been described as being small to medium in length, at 155 cm (5 ft 1 in) but extremely light in weight, at 26 kg (57 lb), however, these measures were derived from only five specimens that were caught in northeast Greenland during the winter of 1906 and could be the result of under-nutrition. Greenland wolves were described as being "very pale" in color and resemble the Arctic wolf.
This subspecies is native to Greenland, where about 90% of its range falls within the boundaries of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Like all Grey wolves. Greenland wolves live, hunt, and travel in packs. Their average pack size is 3 individuals and packs of 4 or more were rare. Usually, packs of Grey wolves include the alpha male and female with their young as well as older offspring. The alphas are the leaders of the pack, establishing the group's territory, selecting the den sites, tracking down, and hunting prey. They live in close ties with the members of their pack, communicating with each other through a wide variety of calls, including barks, whines, howls, and growls. Grey wolves are nocturnal predators. They move around their territory when hunting, using the same trails for extended periods. These follow the banks of rivers, the shorelines of lakes, and ravines overgrown with shrubs, plantations, roads, and human paths. Grey wolves prefer moving at night, being able to travel up to 200 km (124 miles) per day. Throughout the year, they undergo stationary and nomadic phases: the stationary phase takes place in the spring and summer months, when they grow up young, while the nomadic phase lasts from autumn to winter.
Greenland wolves are carnivores and within their range, they prey on any easily obtainable species, with hares forming an important food source. They have been also documented preying on seal in both Greenland and the Queen Elizabeth Islands, and muskox.
Little is known about the reproductive habits of Greenland wolves. In general, within a pack, only the alpha male and female breed. The alphas are monogamous, mating for life until one of the mates dies, after which a new alpha male or female is determined, and the pair is re-established. Grey wolves breed from January to April. The female is responsible for digging a den, where she further gives birth and raises the pups. The gestation period lasts about 60-63 days, after which 1-14 helpless pups are born with an average of 6-7. For the first 45 days, all members of the pack participate in feeding the pups through regurgitation. The mother stays with the young for the first 3 weeks, after which the pups continue living in the den until they reach the age of 8-10 weeks. Females become reproductively mature at 2 years old, and males when they are 3 years old.
The decline and extermination of the wolf population was studied in east Greenland between 1899 and 1939. There the wolf population was located mainly in the central part of the range, which made them vulnerable to Danish and Norwegian hunters who exterminated that population with poison. Greenland wolves were also heavily hunted and between 1920 and 1932, 35 wolves were killed in the core wolf range, forcing the population to decline rapidly to extinction. Wolves could not recover during the years between 1939 and 1978 in east Greenland due to factors such as geography and limited resources. Prey was insufficient and a dispersal corridor was hidden at 79 degrees north, thus restricting access to east Greenland.
According to Wikipedia resource, the total population size of the Greenland wolf is approximately 200 individuals.
