The wolf is the wild cousin of our domestic dogs. Most wolves are larger than a German Sheperd dog. They can weigh up to 70 kg. Wolves are usually grey, but can be black, white or a mix of colours. They have long bushy tails and their thick fur keeps them warm in the winter.

Today, in Manitoba, most wolves live in forests. In the arctic, wolves live in the open tundra. Wolves used to live in the open prairies, before there were farms, but now these wolves are gone.

A wolf's main enemies are people and other wolves. For many years people killed wolves because they thought they were dangerous or to get their fur. Each wolf pack defends its territory and will attack wolves from another pack. A wolf protects itself from people or other wolves by running away.

A wolf pack is really a family. The male and female leaders of the pack are usually the parents of the other wolves. The female leader is usually the only one in a pack to have pups. She digs a hole in the ground to use as a den to keep the pups safe. She may have 5 to14 pups in her litter. The pups are born in May or June and stay in the den for almost a month. At first they live on their mother's milk. They start to eat meat when they are about 3 weeks old. Other adult wolves in the pack will chew and swallow some meat, then bring it up and feed it to the pups. After a few more weeks the adults will bring all or parts of the animals they have killed back to the den for the pups to chew themselves. When they are about 4 months old the pups will leave the den and follow the rest of the pack. Wolves are almost full grown when they are one year old. Wolves can live from 10 to18 years.