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Wolves
Wolf History, Conservation, Ecology and Behavior
[www.wolfology.com]
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Arizona/
New Mexico
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Idaho
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Isle Royale
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Michigan
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Minnesota
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Montana
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North Carolina
(red wolf)
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Wisconsin
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Yellowstone
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1970
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18
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750
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1970
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1975
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41
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1,000
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1975
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1980
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50
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1,200
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25
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1980
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1985
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22
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1,400
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14
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15
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1985
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1990
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15
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1,500
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48
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34
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1990
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1995
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15
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16
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80
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2,000
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70
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55
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83
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14
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1995
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1996
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30
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22
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116
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2,200
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82
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99
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43
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1996
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1997
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68
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24
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112
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2,300
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75
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148
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54
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1997
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1998
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11
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75
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24
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140
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2,450
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75
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75
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178
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80
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1998
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1999
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6
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122
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25
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174
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2,500
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65
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205
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116
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1999
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2000
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21
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141
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29
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216
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2,600
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63
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248
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118
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2000
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2001
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32
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185
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19
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249
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2,600
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107
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75
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251
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140
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2001
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2002
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19
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261
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17
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280
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2,600
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84
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100
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320
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218
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2002
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International-1999*
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1995
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1999
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Albania
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?
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250
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Belarus
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?
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?
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Bosnia/
Herzegovina
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<400
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800
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Bangladesh
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?
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10
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Bulgaria
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?
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800
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Canada
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55,000
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62,000
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Croatia
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35
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75
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Czech Rep.
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20
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Estonia
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?
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500
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Finland
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?
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150
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France
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10
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35
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Germany
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10
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<10
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Greece
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?
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200
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Greenland
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75
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50
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Hungary
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?
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50
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India
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?
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1,500
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Israel
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<150
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<150
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Italy
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400
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450
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Latvia
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?
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900
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Lithuania
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?
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600
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Macedonia
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350
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1,000
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Mongolia
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20,000
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25,000
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Norway
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?
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5-10
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PRC (China)
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4,000
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6,000
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Poland
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850
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1,000
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Portugal
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250
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250
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Romania
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2,500
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2,500
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Russia
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28,000
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30,000
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Saudi Arabia
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600
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600
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Slovakia
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350
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350
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Slovenia
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20
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50
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Spain
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?
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2,000
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Sweden
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?
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50
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Switzerland
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?
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5
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Ukraine
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?
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2,500
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Yugoslav Fed.
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?
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<500
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Abyssinian wolf; Ethiopia: 550 (1999)
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* figures from 1999 World Wolf Status Report,
Bill Route & Linda Aylsworth
Current distribution (with former distribution shown by speckled areas)
I have correlated the information below from data derived from 1998, 1999 and 2000 reports. If any errors have
been made, please contact me at wolfology@lycos.com.
United States
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Alaska
Subspecies: ligoni, pambasileus, tundrarum, alces. Status: viable, numbering 5,227- 8,060. Range occupied. 100%. Main prey: moose, caribou, sheep, deer, beaver. Legal status: animals are hunted and trapped in limited seasons with bag limits. Approximately 1,000 wolves are legally killed every year.
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Canada
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Alberta
Subspecies: occidentalis, griseoalbus, irremotus, nubilus. Status: fully viable, numbering approximately 6,000. Range occupied: 80%. Main prey: moose, caribou, sheep, deer, beaver, goat, elk, bison. Legal status: furbearer, protected in national and provincial parks. Up to 200 wolves are killed annually by shooting or trapping.
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British Columbia
Subspecies: crassodon, fuscus, columbianus, mackenzii, occidentalis, tundrarum, ligoni, irremotus. Status: fully viable, numbering approximately 8,000. Range occupied: 80%. Main prey: moose, caribou, sheep, deer, beaver, goat, elk. Legal status: game species, furbearer, no closed season. Approximately 750 wolves are killed annually, mostly by hunters.
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Labrador (Newfoundland)
Subspecies: labradorius. Status: fully viable, 3,000. Range occupied: 95 %. Main prey: moose, caribou, beaver, musk ox, hares. Legal status: furbearer; about 30 wolves are killed by trappers annually. Biologists expect wolves to recolonize Newfoundland, where they were eradicated, by swimming the Strait of Belle Isle.
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Northwest Territories
Subspecies: arctos, bernardi, columbianus, griseoalbus, hudsonicus, mackenzii, nubilus, occidentalis, pambasileus. Status: fully viable, numbering 10,000. Range occupied: 100%. Main prey: moose caribou, sheep, deer, beaver, goat. Legal status: forbearer. According to wolf biologist Paul Paquet, approximately 2,000 wolf skins were exported from the Northwest Territories in 1997.
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Ontario, Quebec
Subspecies: lycaon, hudsonicus, labradorius. Status: fully viable, 9,000 (Ontario) & 6,000 (Quebec). Range occupied: 80%. Main prey: moose,deer, caribou, beaver. Legal status: furbearer, protected (Quebec) in provincial and national parks.
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Saskatchewan, Manitoba
Subspecies: hudsonicus, griseoalbus, irremotus, nubilis. Status: fully viable, 4,300 (Saskatchewan) & 4,000 (Manitoba). Range occupied: 70%. Main prey: moose, elk, deer, beaver, bison, caribou. Legal status: furbearer.
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Yukon
Status: Viable, 4,500. About 175-200 wolves are killed annually during legal season.
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Afghanistan
Subspecies: pallipes, chanco. Status: viable, suspected decline, 1,000? individuals. Range occupied: 90%. Main prey: unknown. Legal status: unknown. Cause of decline: unknown.
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Albania
Subspecies: lupus. Status: viable, 250. Range occupied: unknown. Main prey: unknown. Legal status: unknown. Cause of decline: unknown.
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Arabian Peninsula
Subspecies: pallipes, arabs. Status: lingering, 600-700 individuals. Range occupied: 90%. Main prey: garbage, carrion, livestock. Legal status: no protection, can be legally hunted. Cause of decline: persecution.
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Bhutan
Subspecies: chanco. Status: unknown. Range occupied: unknown. Main prey: unknown. Legal status: protected. Cause of decline: unknown.
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Bulgaria
Subspecies: lupus. Status: viable, 800-1,000 individuals. Range occupied: unknown. Main prey: (moose) roe deer, red deer, wild boar, mufflon. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction. From 300 to 500 wolves are killed annually, too high a mortality rate to be sustained.
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China
Subspecies: chanco. Status: extermination efforts active, population numbers: 6,000 (4,000 estimated in 1990). Range occupied: 20% (western and northern regions). Main prey: saiga, other ungulates, livestock. Legal status: protected. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction. The Chines government announced plans in 1998 to set aside a 100,000 square-mile refuge for wolves in the Daxinganglin Mountains of Inner Mongolia. Wolves from Daxinganglin have been suggested as candidates for a proposed reintroduction program in Japan, where the Sika deer population is exploding.
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Czech Republic
Subspecies: lupus. Status: steep decline/ lingering, ? Individuals. Highly threatened or endangered. Range occupied: 10%. Main prey: roe deer, red deer, wild boar, mufflon. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction. Legal status: protected, but the entire population of 18 wolves were wiped out in 1996-97; any that inhabit this country now are dispersers from Slovakia.
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Egypt
Subspecies: arabs. Status: 30 individuals. Highly endangered. Range (Sinai) occupied: 90%. Main prey: hares, livestock. Legal status: no protection. Cause of decline: persecution.
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Finland
Subspecies: lupus. Status: lingering, 140 individuals. Endangered. Range occupied: < 10%. Legal status: can be hunted November through March (north), protected (south). Main Prey: moose, reindeer, . white-tailed deer, livestock. Cause of decline: persecution.
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France
Subspecies: lupus. Status: recolonizing, but not stable; 15. The last native wolf was killed in 1958, but the current population has come from Italy.
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Greece
Subspecies: lupus. Status: in decline, 200 individuals (500 estimated in 1990). Range occupied: 60%. Main prey: deer, wild boar, chamois, livestock. Legal status: partial protection. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction.
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Greenland
Subspecies: orion. Status: recovering, 100 individuals. Threatened. Range occupied: northern and eastern Greenland. Main prey: musk-ox, caribou. Legal status: completely protected. Cause of decline: persecution. Wolves were eradicated in the 1930s, but Greenland was repopulated by two wolves from Ellesmere Island in 1978
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Hungary
Subspecies: lupus. Status: 50 individuals. Range occupied: unknown. Main prey: unknown. Legal status: protected. Cause of decline: unknown.
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India
Subspecies: pallipes. Status: lingering, probably only lone wolves or pairs, 2,700 individuals. Endangered. Range occupied: 20%. Main prey: livestock, hare, deer, antelope. Legal status: unenforced full protection. Cause of decline: decreasing prey, persecution.
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Iran
Subspecies: pallipes, campestris. Status: fully viable, numbering >1000. Range occupied: 80%. Main prey: gazelle, mountain sheep, livestock, wild boar, deer, Capra sp. Legal status: Game species. Cause of decline: persecution.
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Iraq
Subspecies: unknown. Status: unknown. Range occupied: unknown. Main prey: unknown. Legal status: unknown. Cause of decline: unknown.
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Israel
Subspecies: pallipes, arabs. Status: lingering, low population density, 100-150 individuals. Highly threatened. Range occupied: 60%. Main prey: hares, livestock, carrion. Legal status: full protection. Cause of decline: habitat destruction, persecution.
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Italy
Subspecies: lupus. Status: becoming viable, 450 individuals (250 in 1987,Boitani). Highly threatened. Range occupied: 10%. Main prey: garbage, livestock. Legal status: full protection. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction, prey extermination.
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Jordan
Subspecies: unknown. Status: lingering, 200 individuals. Highly threatened. Range occupied: 90%. Legal status: no protection. Main prey: unknown. Cause of decline: persecution.
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Kazakstan
Status: 9,000 individuals. There may be as many as 3,000 wolves in Kyrgyzstan and 1,000 in Uzbekistan, but a bounty system persists, and hunting continues.
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Lebanon
Subspecies: unknown. Status: lone wolves or pairs, >10 individuals. Highly endangered. Range occupied: unknown. Main prey: garbage, carrion. Legal status: no Protection. Cause of decline: persecution.
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Mexico
Subspecies: baileyi. Status: lone wolves or pairs, <10 individuals. Highly endangered. Range occupied: <10%. Main prey: livestock. Legal status: unenforced full protection. Cause of decline: persecution and habitat destruction. Wolf sightings regularly occur in Mexico, but there have been no documented sightings since the 1970s.
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Mongolia
Subspecies: chanco. Status: viable; 30,000 individuals. Range occupied: 100%. Main prey: livestock, saiga. Legal status: extermination efforts active.
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Nepal
Subspecies: chanco. Status: lingering, 500 individuals. Range occupied: unknown. Main prey: unknown. Leg status: unprotected. Cause of decline: unknown.
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Pakistan
Subspecies: pallipes, campestris. Status: lingering, 600 individuals. Range occupied: mountainous northern region. Main prey: unknown. Legal status: unprotected. Cause of decline: unknown.
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Poland
Subspecies: lupus, campestris. Status: fully viable, numbering approximately 1,000 (850 estimated in 1990). Range occupied: 90%. Main prey: (moose), roe deer, red deer, wild boar, mufflon. Legal status: full protection. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction.
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Portugal
Subspecies: signatus, (lupus). Status: viable, 900 individuals. Highly threatened. Range occupied: 20%. Main prey: livestock, roe deer, wild boar. Legal status: partial protection. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction.
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Romania
Subspecies: lupus. Status: lingering, possibly in decline, 2,500 individuals. Range occupied: 20%. Main prey: roe deer, red deer, wild boar, mufflon. Legal status: Protected, but large numbers are illegally killed. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction.
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Russia
Status: 30,000. Range occupied: unknown. Main prey: unknown. Cause of decline: persecution. Legal status: considered vermin, but hunting has decreased since the Soviet days.In 1998 the Agriculture Ministry put up $10 million to slaughter up to 15,000 wolves in the next several years.
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Slovakia
Status: in decline, 250 individuals.Cause of decline: persecution and habitat loss. Legal status: Officially protected, but still hunted. In 1995-96, 150 wolves were killed in a 12-month period, a mortality rate too high to be sustained.
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Spain
Subspecies: signatus, (lupus). Status: lingering, low population density, 2,000 individuals (1,000 estimated in 1990). Threatened. Range occupied: 10%. Main prey: livestock, roe deer, wild boar. Legal status: partial protection, classified as game animals. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction. Approximately 700 wolves are killed, legally or otherwise, every year, which is too high a number to be sustained.
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Sweden, Norway
Subspecies: lupus. Status: recolonizing, 70 individuals. Highly endangered. Range ccupied: <10%. Main prey: moose, reindeer, livestock. Legal status: Full protection in both countries. Cause of decline: persecution. Norway and Sweden share a population, with approximately one-third of the wolves denning in Norway.
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Syria
Subspecies: lupus, pallipes. Status: lingering, low population density, 300 individuals. Highly threatened. Range occupied: 10%. Main prey: livestock, carrion, small wildlife. Legal status: no protection. Cause of decline: persecution.
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Turkey
Subspecies: lupus, pallipes. Status: Viable, but in decline. Unknown number of individuals. Range occupied: the mountainous eastern region. Main prey: livestock, unknown. Legal status: no protection.
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Yugoslavia
Subspecies: lupus. Status: steep decline, approximately 500 individuals. Range occupied: 55 %. Main prey: deer, wild boar, chamois, livestock. Legal status: partial protection. Cause of decline: persecution, habitat destruction.
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