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Wolves are one of the signature mammals of Alaska; with the possible exception of Minnesota, Alaska is the only state in the US with extensive healthy populations of these intelligent and highly social hunters (in recent years, wolves have been reintroduced or spontaneously returned to Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming). One of their common names is the 'gray' wolf, but wolves come in all colors from white to black. Although they are usually quite shy, the dark one-year-old male shown here rather confidently -- even playfully -- approached our tour bus on a rainy day in Denali National Park. In his summer coat, he looked very tall and lean, and the driver told us that despite his 'friendly' attitude, this animal was an efficient hunter that had taken down two moose calves by himself the previous week. The distant gray animal, also photographed in Denali, shows a more familiar wolf coat pattern; the 'portrait' of a gray animal is of a captive. |
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