Apennine wolf
The Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus or Canis lupus lupus) is a subspecies of the Grey wolf. Although not universally recognized as a distinct subspecies, it nonetheless possesses a unique mtDNA haplotype and a distinct skull morphology. The Italian wolf features prominently in Latin and Italian cultures, such as in the legend of the founding of Rome. It is the national animal of Italy.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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ScavengerScavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While sc...
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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CursorialA cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. chee...
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Pack huntersA pack hunter or social predator is a predatory animal that hunts its prey by working together with other members of its species. Normally animals ...
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Pursuit predatorPursuit predation is a form of predation in which predators actively give chase to their prey, either solitarily or as a group. Pursuit predators r...
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Ambush predatorAmbush predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey by stealth, luring, or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an elemen...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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NomadicNomadic animals regularly move to and from the same areas within a well-defined range. Most animals travel in groups in search of better territorie...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe pelt of the Italian wolf is generally of a grey-fulvous color, which reddens in summer. The belly and cheeks are more lightly colored, and dark bands are present on the back and tail tip, and occasionally along the fore limbs. Black wolves have been reported in the north-central Apennines, though their origin is unknown, as some melanistic individuals show no sign of wolf-dog hybridization.
This subspecies is native to the Italian Peninsula. There it inhabits the Apennine Mountains and the Western Alps, though it is undergoing expansion towards the north and east. Since the 1990s, the Italian wolf's range has expanded into southeastern France and Switzerland. Italian wolves live in a wide variety of habitats including forests, inland wetlands, shrublands, grasslands, pastures, and mountainous areas.
Italian wolves typically live in packs of 2 to 7 individuals. They also hunt and travel in packs. Each pack includes 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. Wolves 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. Wolves do not actually howl at the moon; they tend to howl when the night is lighter, which usually happens during the full moon. Other information about the behavior of Italian wolves is scarce. In general, Grey wolves are nocturnal predators. They move around their territory when hunting, using the same trails for extended periods. They prefer moving at night, being able to travel up to 200 km (124 miles) per day. Throughout the year, wolves 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.
Grey wolves are mainly carnivores and feed on large hooved mammals as well as smaller animals, livestock, carrion, and garbage. They also eat waterfowl and their eggs. When such foods are insufficient, wolves may prey on lizards, snakes, frogs, and large insects when available. Wolves in some areas may consume fish and even marine life. They also eat some plant material. In Europe, they eat apples, pears, figs, melons, berries and cherries.
Little is known about the reproductive habits of Italian wolves. Generally, Grey wolves 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. Within a pack, only the alpha male and female breed. The female is responsible for digging a den, where she further gives birth and raises her 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.
Wolf populations strongly declined across Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries largely due to human persecution, and by the end of the Second World War they had been eradicated from all of Central Europe and almost all of Northern Europe. In Italy, wolves were largely extirpated in the Alps during the 1920s and disappeared from Sicily in the 1940s. Their range along the south-central Apennines was still relatively continuous by the 1950s, though this population was reduced in the decades after World War II because of widespread poisoning campaigns. At least 400 wolves were killed between 1960 and 1970, with the population reaching an all-time low in the early 1970s. The last documented wolf in the northern Apennines was killed in Santo Stefano d'Aveto, Genoa, in 1946, though this was an isolated individual, as the local wolf population had long been extinct. In spite of the recent increase in numbers and range, the Italian wolf population is still highly vulnerable to local extermination from human pressures (poison, shooting, car accidents) and the stochastic nature of these events suggest to maintain a cautionary assessment.
According to IUCN Red List, the population size of the Italian wolf in the Western-Central Alps is estimated to be around 550-700 individuals, and in the Italian peninsula, it is 1,070-2,400 individuals. According to Wikipedia resource, as of 2022, the wolf population within Italy is estimated to be 3,307 individuals.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...