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Wolves have hunted buffalo on plains throughout North America for thousands of years, but many herds became extinct as a result of westward expansion. In Wood Buffalo National Park, a remote wilderness area that covers 11 million acres in Northern Canada (5 times the size of Yellowstone National Park), wolves continue to hunt buffalo. Jeff Turner, a filmmaker who has been filming wildlife for 25 years in remote wilderness areas around the world, recently studied a wolf pack in the Park to gain insight into their world, explore their behaviors, and learn more about how wolves and their prey, buffalo, survive throughout the year.

The fact that wolves have good endurance, lean, muscular bodies with powerful legs, and large feet with thick padding, makes it possible for them to travel more than 30 miles a day to search for buffalo over varied terrain. They can run at speeds of 25 miles per hour for several miles at a time and up to 40 miles per hour for short sprints. The combination of wolves’ speed and endurance make them very skilled at hunting buffalo over long distances. Wolves also have a very keen sense of smell, which is up to 100 times more sensitive than that of humans, enabling them to detect scents that are as far as one mile away.

Although Wood Buffalo National Park is very large, the buffalo gather near the park’s Peace and Athabasca rivers during the winter for the best grazing.

It is important for the wolves to get a steady supply of buffalo meat in winter so that the female wolves can give birth to healthy pups in the spring, and so that the pack may survive through spring and summer, which are the leanest months for wolves.

Facts about the other seasons:

• Spring: This is the only time of year when wolves can hunt animals smaller than themselves: buffalo calves. The spring provides a new hunting opportunity for the wolves, as the buffalo calves are a less risky target for the wolves than the adult buffalo. However, hunting buffalo is a harder task in the spring, since the mother buffalo are very protective of their young and not slowed down by the deep snow. The buffalo continue to regain strength and weight on the spring grass. As they search for fresh feed, they can roam miles away from the spot where the wolves expect them to be and have made their den.  The calves get stronger, making them a more difficult target for the wolves.

• Summer: In the summertime the buffalo are harder to find and kill and the wolves’ need for additional food increases as their pups grow. This puts great pressure on the adult wolves to make a kill.

Before watching the video:

1. Each season presents different challenges for animals living in the wild. What are some specific challenges that winter might pose for wolves and buffalo?

After watching the video:

1. Discuss some specific challenges the winter poses for wolves and buffalo in Wood Buffalo National Park.
2. Describe the structure of a wolf pack and how the structure of the pack increases the chances of survival of its individual members.
3. Discuss some of the physical features of wolves that make them well-suited to hunt buffalo and describe the features that make buffalo well-suited to endure harsh winter weather.
4. Explain why it is critical for wolves to get a steady supply of buffalo meat in the wintertime.

For more information, go to:

• Wolf Haven: Gray Wolf Physiology http://www.wolfhaven.org/physiology.php