# Wolf (*Canis lupus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/wolf  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The wolf (Canis lupus), also called the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a mammal in the family Canidae of the order Carnivora. It is a large, nocturnal, terrestrial carnivore with a representative adult body mass of 32.18 kg, and its main foods include moose, red deer, wild boar, bison, fish, carrion and berry. Gestation lasts from 61 to 63 days, litters have a representative size of 4.98 young and up to 6, and sexual maturity comes at 1.6 to 1.8 years. The wolf is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 21 kg – 32.2 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 20 years – 29.5 years |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Main food | apple, arvicolinae, berry, bird, bison, carrion and 30 more |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 61 days – 63 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.98 – 6 |
| Age at maturity | 19.4 months – 22 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.82 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Carnivora
- family: Canidae
- genus: Canis
- species: *Canis lupus* Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms: *Canis karanorensis*, *Canis lupus altaicus*, *Canis lupus canus*, *Canis lupus chanco*, *Canis lupus coreanus*, *Canis lupus deitanus*, *Canis lupus flavus*, *Canis lupus fulvus*, *Canis lupus laniger*, *Canis lupus lycaon*, *Canis lupus major*, *Canis lupus minor*, *Canis lupus niger*, *Canis lupus orientalis*, *Canis niger*, *Lupus laniger*, *Lupus lupus*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is a wolf?

The wolf is a mammal in the family Canidae, order Carnivora. Its scientific name is Canis lupus.

### How heavy is a wolf?

The wolf has a representative adult body mass of 32.18 kg, placing it in the large size class.

### What does a wolf eat?

The wolf is a carnivore. Its main foods include moose, red deer, roe deer, wild boar, bison, rangifer tarandus, fish, salmon, carrion, berry and apple.

### How long does a wolf live?

Sources give a lifespan of 20 years for the wolf, with values up to 29.5 years.

### How many young does a wolf have?

A wolf litter has a representative size of 4.98 young, with up to 6 reported, after a gestation of 61 to 63 days.

### Which countries is the wolf recorded in?

Checklists record the wolf in Australia.

### Who named Canis lupus?

Canis lupus was named by Linnaeus, 1758.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Wolf (Canis lupus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wolf