Eurasian wolf at Polar Zoo in Bardu, Norway

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Photo: User:Mas3cf · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesCarnivoraCanidae

Carnivores

🐺Grey wolf

Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758

The wolf, also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey wolves, as popularly understood, include only naturally occurring wild subspecies. The wolf is the largest wild extant member of the family Canidae, and is further distinguished from other Canis species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller Canis species, such as the coyote and the golden jackal, to produce fertile hybrids with them. The wolf's fur is usually mottled white, brown, grey, and black, although subspecies in the arctic region may be nearly all white.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos

551

Photos

Measurements

vs you

≈ half your weight

Also called

wolf, common wolf, timber wolf

Conservation status

LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2026.

Population trendStable

Key measurements

Body mass: 29 kg
Body length: 1.27 m
Shoulder height: 0.73 m
Top speed: 62 km/h
Bite force: 593 N
Maximum lifespan: 29 years

All measurements ↓

Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Grey wolf

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass

29 kg

COMBINE

Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

27 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: high

Body length

1.27 m

COMBINE

Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Shoulder height

0.73 m0.66–0.81 m · typical rangecarcass, laid on side

Details ↓

Global range, not sex-split. Young & Goldman 1944 (North America) give 0.66-0.97 m. The Heptner row in this file is USSR-centric and runs higher; prefer this one for a species-level figure.

Source: Hunter 2011, Carnivores of the World, Plate 43 · see citation

Top speed

62 km/h

Details ↓

Sprint over a short distance, not a sustained pace. Compilations give 62.06 and 63.97 km/h.

Source: Iriarte-Diaz 2002, J Exp Biol 205:2897 and Christiansen 2002, Zool J Linn Soc 136:685; compiled in Hirt et al. 2017, Nat Ecol Evol 1:1116, Supplementary Data · see citation

Bite force

593 N

Details ↓

Canine bite modelled by the dry-skull method (Thomason 1991) from a prepared skull; static bite at the canines, gape not stated. Not a live measurement. The skull's estimated body mass was 34.7 kg. A lever model of captive-animal skulls gives 1141 N for the same species (Rozycka et al. 2024, Animals 14:1367).

Source: Wroe, McHenry & Thomason 2005, Proc R Soc B 272:619, Table 1 · see citation

Bite force for its size

136

Details ↓

Bite force normalised for body mass: the residual of canine bite force regressed on body mass, average across the sample set to 100. Above 100 means the animal bites harder than its size predicts. Do not cross-check against Wikipedia's BFQ table, which silently mixes this paper with Christiansen & Wroe 2007 and cites a popular-science book.

Source: Wroe, McHenry & Thomason 2005, Proc R Soc B 272:619, Table 1 · see citation

Brain mass

136 g

COMBINE

Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan

29 years

COMBINE

Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0