Apennine Wolf

Interesting Fact

“According to legend, an Apennine wolf raised the twin brothers who founded Rome.”

Summary

The Apennine wolf is also known as the Italian wolf and is the unofficial national animal of Italy. It is native to the Apennine Mountains and the Western Alps. It nearly went extinct in the 1970s due largely to illegal hunting, but after strict protections were put in place, its numbers have grown. There are now over 3,300 of them and they have begun to spread into southeastern France and Switzerland.

Apennine Wolf Facts

• The Apennine wolf is the unofficial national animal of Italy.
• They almost went extinct in the 1970s but are rapidly multiplying today.
• It’s not clear whether they are a separate species or a type of the Eurasian wolf.
• Apennine wolves can eat up to 6.5 pounds of meat a day.
• They do not howl at the moon. They howl to signal danger to their pack or while hunting.

Scientific Name

The Apennine wolf is also known as the Italian wolf. Its scientific name is Canis lupus italicus. In Latin, “canis” means “dog,” “lupus” is “wolf,” and “italicus” means “Italian.” Apennine wolves are of the Mammalia class and the Canidae family. In Italian the common name of this wolf is “lupo.”

There has been some controversy over whether the Apennine wolf is a distinct subspecies of the common Eurasian wolf, Canis lupus lupus. Some sources list them separately; others consider them the same species. 

Appearance

Members of this wolf species are about the size and weight of German shepherds. They may weigh 55-77 pounds, although male specimens have reached 99 pounds. Their bodies are 43-58 inches long and 20-28 inches high at the shoulder.

Their fur is grey, brown, white, and black. The stomach and cheeks have lighter colors, while the back and tail are the darkest part of the pelt. In the summer they take on more of a reddish hue.

Evolution and Origins

The Apennine wolf, scientifically known as Canis lupus italicus or Canis lupus lupus, is a subspecies of the grey wolf that is indigenous to the Italian Peninsula.

It primarily occupies the Apennine Mountains and the Western Alps, although it is gradually extending its range towards the northern and eastern regions.

Around 1 million years ago, during the height of the Ice Age, wolves emerged from a lineage of smaller canid species native to Eurasia, evolving into the magnificent creatures we know today.

Although the complete evolutionary history of the wolf remains somewhat uncertain, numerous biologists posit that the wolf likely originated from primitive carnivorous mammals called miacids, which varied in size from gopher-sized to dog-sized creatures and first emerged during the Lower Tertiary approximately fifty-two million years ago.

Behavior

Apennine wolves live in packs of anywhere from two to a maximum of 12 animals. Compared to other wolf species, they run in smaller packs due to a lack of large prey in their habitat. After deer were reintroduced into Italy’s Abruzzo National Park, however, larger packs of six to seven wolves began to appear.

Wolves communicate with one another with barks, howls, yips, growls, whines, and other vocalizations, as well as body language, scent, touch, and taste. It is a myth that wolves howl at the moon.

Instead, they howl to gather the scattered pack before and after hunts, to sound an alarm, to locate one another in new territory, and to communicate over a distance. A wolf’s howl can travel over a territory of 50 square miles in the right circumstances.

Socialization

The social behavior of wolves within their packs is complex and interesting. Wolves are very social creatures that form close ties with one another and are highly territorial and protective of their families. They usually claim a larger territory than they actually need for their survival in order to make sure they have a steady supply of prey. They try to avoid hunting near the edges of their territory to avoid conflicts with other packs.

Packs include an alpha pair and their offspring who stay with them until they are old enough to find their own mates, which can be as short as 10 months or up to nearly five years. Competition for mates and food is the main reason they disperse rather than making ever-larger packs. Wolves may travel 100 miles or more away from their families to start their own packs. They hardly ever adopt non-related wolves into their packs; they kill them instead. “Lone wolves” driven out of their packs may remain solitary.

The ability of wolves to cooperate is one of the keys to their success as a species. They collaborate on vital activities, such as hunting and defending territory from other wolves. Each member of the pack has a role to play, from the leading alphas to more gregarious or submissive members. Dominant and aggressive wolves move slowly, walk with their body held high, and raise their hackles. In their presence, submissive, lower-status wolves keep their bodies low, their fur flat, and their ears and tail lowered.

Habitat

The preferred habitat of this species is the forest, including coniferous forests at higher elevations and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, to the Mediterranean forests and scrublands of the warmer south.

Wolves construct dens in the summer using natural features like rock outcroppings, overhanging riverbanks, and vegetation-covered holes. They may even steal and enlarge a burrow from a smaller animal, such as a fox, badger, or marmot. Wolves prefer dens near a water source and facing south to get more warm sunlight exposure.

Diet

In its habitat, the Apennine wolf is the apex predator. They are carnivores, eating up to 6.5 pounds of meat a day. They hunt nocturnally for various species of deer, wild boar, and chamois (a species of goat-antelope). When they cannot find larger prey, they hunt hares, rabbits, birds, and even invertebrates. Near settled areas, they will prey on sheep, goats, calves, horses, and other livestock. They are also scavengers, prone to eating carcasses or edible bits of human garbage. They occasionally eat berries and herbs for roughage.

Predators, Threats, and Conservation Status

Since these wolves are apex predators in their territory, other species do not hunt them. Their biggest natural threat is one another, with territorial fights being one of their leading causes of death.

Human beings are the greatest threat to the survival of this species. This is a result of fear and, in the past, superstition. Medieval records indicate wolves attacked hundreds of Italians from the 15^th-19^th centuries. However, no attacks were recorded after World War II. In the 1920s, many rural people still believed in werewolves. They would not sleep facing the full moon for fear they would transform into wolves. These kinds of fears led to the killing of enormous numbers of wolves.

However, one of the main reasons for the hostility of humans toward wolves is the threat they pose to livestock, which can be easier prey for them than hunting wild game. In France, to reduce the number of unfavorable interactions between wolves and farmers, the government has subsidized electrified pasture fencing and night pens, hired additional farm hands, and purchased, trained, and upkeep of livestock guard dogs. Despite these measures, some livestock owners still illegally kill wolves when they stray onto their property.

The current conservation status of the Apennine wolf is “vulnerable.” The species nearly went extinct in the 1970s due largely to illegal hunting, but after strict protections were put in place, its numbers have grown. The most recent estimates are that 3,300 of them live in Italy and they have begun to spread into southeastern France and Switzerland. Apennine wolves are now protected in all three countries and their numbers are growing.

Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

Wolves mate for life, but if one of them dies, the survivor finds a new mate quickly. Mating occurs in March with a two-month gestation period. Females may give birth to between two and eight pups, depending upon the age of the mother. They usually just have one litter a year.

Italian wolf pups weigh 8-12 ounces, about the same as a glass of water or a can of soda. They are blind, deaf, and covered in gray-brown fur at birth. They start opening their eyes at nine to 12 days old. They leave the den after three weeks but continue drinking their mother’s milk until they are 30-45 days old.

At three to four months, they can digest meat. They become sexually mature at about three years old. The whole pack helps protect the young, keeping them in a den at the center of their territory.

In the wild, Apennine wolves can live up to about 10 years. In captivity, wolves can live for 15 years or more.

Population

The Apennine wolf population in Italy is estimated at 3,300 individuals. Most of this population—about 2,000 animals—is distributed across the central and southern portions of Italy. They are multiplying most rapidly in the Alps of northern Italy. From there, they have been steadily spreading into France and Switzerland.