Yesterday, two wolves ran along the road right toward our tour bus and passed us.

As the first wolf ran by he looked right up at me and for the first time I could see what a truly wild, dangerous, beautiful animal he was just from his eyes.

That the wild, dangerous, beautiful world remains here unchanged is food for the soul, and that is what Denali means to me. 

- Statement by visitor in the "What Denali Means to Me" drop box at the Denali Visitor Center. We're always eager to hear what Denali means to you, too.

Monitoring and Surveying

Wolves inhabiting Denali National Park and Preserve face many natural and human related factors that may affect behavior, distribution, and population. These factors include weather, availability of prey, and human development. In the entire state of Alaska, wolf populations (~5,900 to 7,200 animals) are healthy and are not considered endangered or threatened.

For the last 20 years, park-wide wolf numbers (north of the Alaska Range) have averaged about 100 wolves. However, in April 2009, there were approximately 65 wolves in the packs being regularly monitored by park biologists - the lowest number of wolves recorded in Denali since biologists began monitoring wolves with methods that give reliable counts.

Read more about wolf monitoring (specifically, 1986-2009).

The Life of a Wolf

Wolf groups, or packs, usually include dominant male and female parent (alpha pair), their offspring and other non-breeding adults. Wolves begin mating when they are 2 to 3 years old, sometimes establishing lifelong mates.

Wolves usually rear their pups in dens for the first six weeks. Dens are often used year after year, but wolves may also dig new dens or use some other type of shelter, such as a cave. Pups are born in early spring and are cared for by the entire pack. They depend on their mother's milk for the first month, then they are gradually weaned and fed regurgitated meat by other pack members. By 7 to 8 months of age, when they are almost fully grown, the pups begin traveling with the adults.

Often, after 1 or 2 years of age, a young wolf leaves the pack and tries to find a mate and form its own pack. Lone dispersing wolves have traveled as far as 500 miles in search of a new home.

Wolf packs usually live within a specific territory. Territories range in size depending on how much prey is available and seasonal prey movement. Packs use a traditional area and defend it from other wolves.

Their ability to travel over large areas to seek out vulnerable prey makes wolves good hunters. Wolves may travel as far as 30 miles in a day. Although they usually trot along at 5 mph, wolves can attain speeds as high as 45 miles per hour for short distances.

Indirectly, wolves support a wide variety of other animal populations. Ravens, foxes, wolverines, and even bears feed on the remains of animals killed by wolves. Wolves also help regulate the balance between ungulates (hoofed animals) and their food supply.

Wolves are noted for their distinctive howl, which they use as a form of communication. Biologists do not know all of the reasons why wolves howl, but they may do so before and after a hunt, to sound an alarm, and to locate other members of the pack when separated. Wolves howl more frequently in the evening and early morning, especially during winter breeding and pup rearing. Howling is also one way that packs warn other wolves to stay out of their territory.