Wolf

Historical background

In the territories where the Parks of the Cottian Alps are located and generally throughout the entire Alpine Arc, the wolf became extinct between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century due to human hunting activity. Starting from the 1970s, from a small nucleus of wolves of the subspecies canis lupus italicus present in the Apennines of Central Italy (between 100 and 200 individuals), a process of numerical growth and spontaneous recolonization began, leading the species to spread throughout the peninsula. In the Province of Turin, in 1997, the presence of the first breeding pair settling in the territory of the Natural Park of Gran Bosco di Salbertrand was confirmed. The natural return of the wolf to the alpine territory was favored by three main aspects: a dispersal process that leads young wolves to move far away from the original pack, the protected status assigned to the wolf species in the late 1970s that made it illegal to kill them, and the gradual abandonment of mountains and inland territories by humans, providing the predator with environments to live in and prey to sustain themselves.

Morphology

Adult Italian wolves reach a length of 100-150 cm and a weight ranging from 25 to 40 kg depending on age and sex. The wolf's coat varies greatly from one individual to another but generally has a cream coloration with black tips on the back and brown on the chest. To distinguish it from domestic dogs, especially lupoid breeds, one must observe the markedly yellow/orange eye color, the presence of a white fur mask on the edges of the muzzle at cheek level, and the furrows on the front part of the front legs, two bands of fur arranged longitudinally. Finally, a very evident characteristic of the wild wolf is the tail, notably shorter than that of dogs.

The pack

Wolves are organized into packs, family units composed of the breeding pair, also known as the alpha, the year's pups, and some subadults born the previous year, usually not exceeding 8 individuals. The alpha pair is also known as dominant because they hold the highest hierarchical role in the pack's social organization. It is their responsibility to manage the pack's most important activities such as hunting, territory defense, and movements. Alphas can be recognized by their proud posture, elevated tail position, and they also enjoy a series of privileges including exclusive reproduction and priority during meals. Subordinate wolves are often the young offspring of the dominant pair, between 1 and 2 years of age, who remain within the pack to support in caring for the pups while the parents are hunting. They tend to carry their tails between their hind legs and assume submissive behaviors, including the possibility of approaching prey only after the alpha pair has finished eating.

Hunting territory

Like humans, wolves are territorial species. Each pack defines an area where it lives and hunts, regularly marking the perimeter with scent marks (feces and urine) to communicate their presence to other wolves. The size of the hunting territory can vary significantly depending on the season, prey availability, and pack size. Boundaries are protected, often resorting to fierce conflict when invaded by dispersing individuals or belonging to other packs.

Dispersal

When young wolves reach sexual maturity, they move away from the original family to find a territory and a partner to form a new reproductive nucleus. This instinctual behavior ensures significant success for the species as it allows for beneficial genetic exchange through encounters with wolves from very distant areas and important territorial expansion capabilities, as observed during the wolf's spread in Italy in recent decades. The dispersal season mainly occurs between autumn and spring when the pack's equilibrium is disturbed by the onset of the reproductive phase in the alpha pair. Young individuals who have reached sexual maturity, usually within the first or second year of age, leave their natal pack for a journey that can lead them to cover long distances, even over 1000 kilometers as confirmed with some individuals fitted with radio collars. This phase is extremely critical in the lives of wolves as young dispersers find themselves hunting alone, without the guidance of parents, in unfamiliar territories often occupied by other packs. During this period, mortality is very high, and road accidents are more frequent.

Reproduction

Wolf reproduction occurs in May and June after a gestation period of 63 days. The female chooses a den in a sheltered place, often utilizing those of other animals, near water because during the first weeks she will only leave the newborns to drink. The litter generally consists of 4 or 5 pups that weigh around 500 grams at birth and are completely blind and deaf for a couple of weeks. During this period, the alpha male will feed the female by regurgitating near the den large amounts of meat hunted with the rest of the pack, which will also be responsible for defending the family core.

Hunting

The wolf is considered an opportunistic predator because its diet depends on the type of prey available. Its preferred prey are ungulates (deer, roe deer, wild boars, chamois, and mouflons) although it can feed on carrion if necessary and turn its attention to domestic livestock, mainly sheep and goats. Since hunting results can vary greatly, a wolf can consume up to 4-5 kg of meat when it has a substantial prey and fast for several consecutive days. Each pack develops its own hunting techniques based on the group's social organization, the number of members, and the available prey. The predator also plays a regulatory role on ungulate populations by controlling the spread of pathogens and carrying out a true genetic selection by primarily targeting older or weaker individuals, thus eliminating those less suitable for reproduction.

Communication and learning

The social organization of the wolf species is based on communicative abilities that occur through vocalizations, postures, and scent marks.

Wolves and dogs: enemies

The wolf and the dog belong to the same species that began to differentiate about 12,000 years ago when humans initiated the domestication process.

Wolves and dogs: friends

The presence of a wolf or its sight can trigger positive reactions of curiosity among humans, as well as negative emotions of fear and rejection, which can lead to conflicts with the predator or among people. However, given the great genetic similarity between dogs and wolves, the two animals are often indistinguishable.