Wolves capture the essence of our dwindling wilderness, as they require large undeveloped expanses in order to survive. Protecting the few remaining areas that still contain populations of wolves is crucial to maintaining our nation's natural heritage and providing wilderness experiences for future generations. Alaska and Minnesota host the largest gray wolf populations in the United States, however wolves are endangered in the remaining continental states. World Wildlife Fund works to protect the coastal temperate rain forest of Alaska, home to Alexander Archipelago Wolves and other wildlife threatened by habitat destruction.

A great warrior, a symbol of our earth's vanishing wilderness, the wolf has been the subject of stories, myths and folk tales for centuries. The wolf is many things to different cultures and interest groups. In point of fact, the wolf is one of the most powerful and elusive predators to wander this continent, and it now faces the threat of extinction because it has been misunderstood by most people. Wolves have incredible athletic abilities. Their jaws are powerful enough to crack open the femur bone of an adult bison. They also have amazing levels of endurance. They can trot for hours, easily covering 50 miles a day. Wolves can reach speeds of 40 miles per hour. They also have superior sensory mechanisms. Their hearing is acute and their vision can detect movement long before any human. It is their nose that makes them superior predators and may enable them to decipher the differences between healthy and weak or sick animals.

Fact vs. Myth - The Gray Wolf was viewed as a grave threat to domestic livestock and was nearly exterminated during this country's westward expansion. While wolves do occasionally kill livestock, the numbers do not justify the hatred some feel toward this animal. Losses of livestock to wolves in areas with healthy wolf populations are relatively rare. Less than 1% of the sheep and cattle living in the wolf range in Canada are killed by wolves annually. Livestock losses to poisonous plants, diseases and poor husbandry practices are much higher. The perception of wolves as dangerous creatures stems less from truths than from cultural myths. For centuries, the wolf has been used as a symbol of evil in European and American society, and a vast array of folklore has grown up around it. Why is the wolf subjected to all this misunderstanding? Perhaps because the Wolf is seen as a symbol of wildness. Traditionally, human society has wanted to dominate nature. The wolf may have become a symbol of evil primarily because it could not be tamed.

Wolves communicate with each other in a variety of ways. They are best known for their howls which are melodious, eerie and spine tingling. Wolves howl to advertise their presence and warn strange wolves away from their territory, to gather the pack together when they are separated, and as a kind of bonding ceremony. Before a hunt pack members gather, lick each other's muzzles and engage in a group howl. This ceremony may serve to unite the pack, much as the ritual of a football team letting out a collective yell before the start of a game. Wolves do not howl at the full moon. This misperception may have developed because wolves will tend to hunt on nights when the moon is full and visibility is good. Wolves also have sophisticated sign language. The position of their tails, ears and lips let other wolves know whether they are submissive, want to play or are going to attack.