In the Alps and the Apennines, there lives a kind of wild wolf with a medium size, narrow chest, strong limbs, fast running speed and strong endurance. They have keen senses and quick movements. They can search for prey by scent. When in danger, they will jump into the water and swim to escape.
Wild wolves have abundant food resources in the Alps, such as wild boar, red deer, and antelope, which can all be their meals.
A group of wild wolves has about 5-15 members. They dare to besiege prey that is much larger than themselves. With sharp teeth, when they bite the prey, they are extremely lethal and can be called top predators.
01 The wild dog ran to snatch the food of the wolf, but was driven away by the wolf fiercely
The body length of wild wolves is about 1-1.5 meters, the weight of male wolves is about 25-45 kg, and the weight of female wolves is about 10% lighter than that of male wolves. Wolves have a strong sense of territory, but sometimes wild dogs appear in the habitat of wild wolves. Wild dogs wander around, sometimes go to human living areas, prey on domestic animals, and sometimes go to wild mountains.
Biologists have observed that although wolves and dogs are both canids, they can hardly coexist. As soon as a wolf sees a dog, it will immediately drive it away, or even kill it. And a single wild dog is obviously no match for a wolf.
There are also courageous wild dogs who are so hungry that they dare to run to snatch the food from the wild wolves. Wild wolves are very protective of food and cannot tolerate wild dogs robbing them for food. They not only drive them away, but also bite wild dogs. It can be said that no wild dog can run wild in the territory of a wolf
But there are exceptions. A female wild dog in estrus, who ran to the wolf’s territory to stutter and was chased and attacked by a male wolf, did not run away, but begged for mercy at the male wolf.
The male wolf stood proudly still, while the female wild dog sometimes lay down on the ground, showing her soft belly, showing obedience; sometimes she wagged her tail and circled the male wolf.
02 A female wild dog crossbreeds with a male wolf to give birth to a hybrid wolf, which has the ferocity of a wolf and the habits of a dog
The female wild dog won the approval of the male wolf with her “charm”, allowing it to stay in the wolf’s territory, and sometimes even get some food. I don’t know if the female wild dog and the male wolf can maintain a spouse relationship forever?
In short, the female wild dog hybridized with the male wolf, and soon after, gave birth to two healthy cubs, which are the “new species” hybrid wolf. The half-breed wolf gradually grew up, and its appearance was almost exactly the same as that of a wolf.
The coat color of the hybrid wolf is mixed with gray-black and coffee-colored, and it will change color with the seasons. In winter, it is yellow-gray. It has pointed ears and a fluffy tail that hangs down naturally, but sometimes it is raised and shaken.
From the appearance alone, it is difficult to distinguish which is a hybrid wolf. Only biologists who have observed and studied them for a long time can distinguish clearly. In any case, the mixed-breed wolf was not expelled by the wolf pack because of its “blood”.
Hybrid wolves have the cunning and viciousness of wolves, but at the same time, they also have the genes of dogs in their bodies, and they have a “dog temper” that cannot be changed. For example, they can wag their tails and are not afraid of people.
03 Able to walk 60 kilometers in one night, hunt wild deer, and gnaw and eat in the forest
When the hybrid wolf grows up, it has the potential to be a top predator. In order to catch the prey, when chasing the prey rapidly, it can sprint 5 meters away in one step.
They are used to staying at night and going out at night. When the night is about to fall, they always hold their heads up and their mouths towards the sky, making a very penetrating cry, which can be heard by others of the same kind several kilometers away.
In order to track their prey, they can run 60 kilometers a night. With their keen senses, they can aim at the target of the prey and pursue them latently. The success rate is relatively high.
The infrared camera captured the scene of a half-breed wolf hunting and eating late at night. It caught up with a wild deer, pounced on it from behind, jumped on the wild deer, and bit it to death.
After that, the half-breed wolf dragged the captured wild deer to a more secluded place, and began to eat the wild deer under a big tree in the forest. It takes a bite at the neck, then circles around the prey, nibbling and eating from the buttocks. It has a large appetite, and it will eat 10 kilograms of food in one meal.
04Run to the living area of the locals, avoid the sheepdogs to catch the sheep, and dare to chase the cattle during the day
With agile skills and sharp canine teeth, it is like a fish in water when hunting. When hunting wild boars, the success rate is greatly increased. But in winter, no matter how good a hunter is, he also faces the dilemma of food shortage.
At this time, the mixed-breed wolf will run to the area where the locals live, wandering around, looking for opportunities to prey on cattle and sheep. After a long time, they are not afraid of people when they see them, and they are familiar with the fence built by the shepherd, and they are also familiar with their opponents-shepherd dogs.
It was once recorded that a mixed-breed wolf approached the pasture quietly, skillfully avoided the defense of the shepherd dog, and quickly poached a sheep, dragged the prey, and ran away quickly. The shepherd dog could only howl angrily.
Do not doubt the courage and ability of the hybrid wolf, they sometimes even dare to run in broad daylight to chase the herd. Several wolves rushed straight into the cattle, causing the cattle to be restless, and they all ran together.
Perhaps the wolf wanted to take advantage of the chaos to hunt, but when a large herd of cattle ran away, the wolf could only dodge quickly, otherwise it would be trampled to death by the cattle.
