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WOLF (Canis lupus)

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 772 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WOLF (Canis See also:lupus) , the See also:common See also:English name for any See also:wild member of the typical See also:section of the genus Canis (see See also:CARNIVORA). Excluding some varieties of domestic See also:dogs, wolves are the largest members of the genus, and have a wide See also:geographical range, extending over nearly the whole of See also:Europe and See also:Asia, and See also:North See also:America from See also:Greenland to See also:Mexico, but are not found in See also:South America or See also:Africa, where they are replaced by other members of the See also:family. They See also:present See also:great diversities of See also:size, length and thickness of See also:fur, and coloration, although resembling each other in all important structural characters. These See also:differences have given rise to a supposed multiplicity of See also:species, expressed by the names C. See also:lycaon (Central Europe), C. laniger and C. See also:niger (See also:Tibet), the C. occidentalis, C. nubilus, C. mexicanus, &c., of North America, and the great blackish-See also:brown Alaskan C. pambasileus, the largest of them all. But it is doubtful whether these should be regarded as more than See also:local varieties. In North America there is a second distinct smaller species, called the See also:coyote or See also:prairie-wolf (Canis latrans), and perhaps the See also:Japanese wolf (C. hodophylax) may be distinct, although, except for its smaller size and shorter legs, it is scarcely distinguishable from the common species. The wolf enters the N.W. corner of See also:India, but in the See also:peninsula is replaced by the more See also:jackal-like C. pallipes, which is probably a member of the jackal See also:group, and not a wolf at all. The See also:ordinary See also:colour of the wolf is yellowish or f ulvous See also:grey, but almost pure See also:white and entirely See also:black wolves are known. In See also:northern countries the fur is longer and thicker, and the See also:animal generally larger and more powerful than in the See also:southern portion of its range. Its habits are similar everywhere and it is still, and has been from See also:time immemorial, especially known to See also:man in all the countries it inhabits as the devastator of See also:sheep flocks. Wolves do not catch their See also:prey by lying in See also:ambush, or stealing up See also:close and making a sudden See also:spring, but by fairly See also:running it down in open See also:chase, which their See also:speed and remarkable endurance enable them to do. Except during summer when the See also:young families of cubs are being separately provided for by their parents, they assemble in troops or packs. often in relays, and by theircombined and persevering efforts are able to overpower and kill See also:deer, antelopes and wounded animals of all sizes.

It is singular that such closely allied species as the domestic See also:

dog and the See also:Arctic See also:fox are among the favourite prey of wolves, and, as is well known, See also:children and even full-grown See also:people are not in-frequently the See also:objects of their attack when pressed by See also:hunger. Notwithstanding the proverbial ferocity of the wolf in a wild See also:state, many instances are recorded of animals taken when quite young becoming tame and attached to the See also:person who has brought them up, when they exhibit many of the ways of a dog. They can, however, rarely be trusted by strangers. The See also:history of the wolf in the See also:British Isles, and its See also:gradual extirpation, has been thoroughly investigated by Mr J. E. Harting in his See also:work on See also:Extinct British Animals, from which the following See also:account is abridged. To See also:judge by the osteological remains which the re-searches of geologists have brought to See also:light, there was perhaps scarcely a See also:county in See also:England or See also:Wales in which, at one time or another, wolves did not abound, while in See also:Scotland and See also:Ireland they must have been still more numerous. The fossil remains which have been discovered in See also:Britain are not larger than, nor in any way to be distinguished from, the corresponding bones and See also:teeth of See also:European wolves of the present See also:day. Wolf-See also:hunting was a favourite pursuit of the See also:ancient Britons as well as of the Anglo-See also:Saxons. In See also:Athelstan's reign these animals abounded to such an extent in See also:York-See also:shire that a See also:retreat was built by one Acehorn, at Flixton, near See also:Filey, wherein travellers might seek See also:refuge if attacked by them. As is well known, great efforts were made by See also:King See also:Edgar to reduce the number of wolves in the See also:country, but, notwithstanding the See also:annual See also:tribute of 300 skins paid to him during several years by the king of Wales, he was not altogether so successful as has been commonly imagined. In the reign of See also:Henry III. wolves were sufficiently numerous in some parts of the country to induce the king to make grants of See also:land to various individuals upon the See also:express See also:condition of their taking See also:measures to destroy these animals wherever they could be found.

In See also:

Edward II.'s time, the king's See also:forest of the See also:Peak, in See also:Derbyshire, is especially mentioned as infested with wolves, and it was not until the reign of Henry VII. (1485–1509) that wolves appear to have become finally extinct in England. This, however, is rather a See also:matter of inference from the cessation of all mention of them in local records than from any definite See also:evidence of their extirpation. Their last retreat was probably in the desolate wolds of See also:Yorkshire. In Scotland, as might be supposed from the nature of the country, the wolf maintained its hold for a much longer See also:period. There is a well-known See also:story of the last of the See also:race being killed by See also:Sir Ewen See also:Cameron of Lochiel in 168o, but there is evidence of wolves having survived in See also:Sutherlandshire and other parts into the following See also:century (perhaps as See also:late as 1743), though the date of their final extinction cannot be accurately fixed. In Ireland, in See also:Cromwell's time, wolves were particularly troublesome, and said to be increasing in See also:numbers, so that See also:special measures were taken for their destruction, such as the offering of large rewards for their heads, and the See also:prohibition (in 1652) of the exportation of " wolf-dogs," the large dogs used for hunting the wolves. The active measures taken then and later reduced their numbers greatly, so that towards the end of the century they became scarce, but, as in the See also:case of the See also:sister See also:island, the date of their final disappearance cannot now be ascertained. It has been placed, upon the evidence of somewhat doubtful traditions, as late as 1766. It is owing to their position that the British Islands have been able to clear themselves of these formidable and destructive animals, for See also:France, with no natural barriers to prevent their incursions from the See also:continent to the See also:east, is liable every See also:winter to visits from numbers of these animals. (W. H.

F. ; R. L.

End of Article: WOLF (Canis lupus)

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WOLF, FRIEDRICH AUGUST (1759-1824)