Lesson 10:Saving the Mexican Wolves

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Did you know? Wolves can run upto 35 miles per hour in short burstswhen they are chasing their prey.The Mexican Gray WolfThe Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is a mammalin the vertebrate group. These wolves are sometimes calledlobos. (Lobo is the Spanish word for “wolf.”) The Mexican wolf isa subspecies of the gray wolf. It is the most endangered of allgray wolves in North America.Like all wolves, the Mexican wolf is related to both dogs andcoyotes. A mature lobo is approximately the size of a Germanshepherd. It measures four to five feet long and weighs 60 to 80pounds. The Mexican wolf is the smallest kind of gray wolf,although it is still larger than a coyote. The fur of the Mexicanwolf—a mixture of tan, gray, rust, and black—resembles that of acoyote.Wolves have very keen senses of hearing, smell, and vision.These characteristics help wolves locate and hunt their prey,even at night. Because wolves are carnivores, their teeth areadapted to the job of catching, killing, and eating prey. Mexicanwolves can eat up to 20 pounds of meat at one time, so theyonly need to eat a couple of times a week. This helps themsurvive when prey is scarce. Mexican wolves’ natural prey islarge, hoofed mammals, such as deer and elk. Lobos will also eatwild pigs called javelina and other small mammals, such as rabbits.3
Mexican wolves live in family groups called packs. A packconsists of an adult pair (which usually mates for life), theirpups, and sometimes the pair’s older offspring. Each packhas its own territory, which can range from 100 to more than500 square miles. Wolves mark the boundaries of their territorywith scent to keep other wolf packs away.The members of a wolf pack communicate with each otherby barking, growling, and whimpering, as well as with bodypostures and movements. Dogs use many of the same behaviorswhen they try to communicate with people. The howling ofwolves is an eerie, mysterious sound. Wolves howl to locate oneanother or as a means of gathering together. Howling is oftenheard before a hunt. During a hunt, the pack works together tolocate, chase down, and kill their prey.Like dogs, wolves express themselves througha variety of body postures.4
Page 2 and 3: Saving theMexican Wolvesby Sasha Gr
Page 6 and 7: Mexican wolves once roamed througho
Page 8 and 9: The Clash of Wolves and PeopleThe M
Page 10 and 11: The government officially supported
Page 12 and 13: The Wolves Make a ComebackOne of th
Page 14 and 15: The group also had to find just the
Page 16 and 17: The White Mountain Apache—Friends
Page 18 and 19: A mother wolf protects her cubs and
Page 20 and 21: RespondingTARGET SKILL Main Ideas a
Page 22: Level: VDRA: 50Genre:Informational

Lesson 10:Saving the Mexican Wolves

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