Wolves have been present in Alaska for about 500,000 years and presently occur throughout most of mainland Alaska, on Unimak Island in the Aleutians, and in most parts of southeastern Alaska. I remember being Docked on the other side of Unimak Island and seeing a pack of wolves on the hillside searching for food.

Wolves normally breed in February and March and litters averaging about five pups are born in May or early June. Most female wolves first breed when 22 months old but usually have fewer pups than do older females. Wolves have a high reproductive rate. Nearly all of Alaska's wolf packs raise at least one litter of four to seven pups successfully each year

The Alaska Department of Fish & Game periodically estimates wolf numbers, and in 1994-95 approximately 7,500 to 10,000 wolves in from 700 to 900 packs were believed to be in the state. Population densities range from about one wolf per 25 to 75 square miles in southern and interior areas to one wolf per 150 square miles in the coastal areas of northern and western Alaska.

The wolf was once a much maligned animal. In the western world, people feared and hated wolves, and this legacy is reflected in stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Boy Who Cried Wolf. In these popular children's tales the wolf is made out to be a marauder and a killer of livestock and people.

There is some basis for The Boy Who Cried Wolf, for wolves have killed cattle and sheep. But what of Little Red Riding Hood? There are no records of wolves killing humans in Canada or the United States. Yet, when wolves were spotted near rural communities, fear used to grip the populace. Over time this has become less prevalent. Today, many people know that scientists studying wolves have lived very close to dens where there were pups without being attacked. They have even taken pups from a den without being molested. The parents have usually run away, returning later only to take their young to a more private den or to a rendezvous site (a place where the pack meets).

In areas where wolves are hunted or trapped they fear people and are very wary. However, in remote places, such as in the Canadian Arctic, they show little fear and will often allow people to live near them

"Oh, they look just like dogs," is an appropriate comment often heard near wolf pens in a zoo, for dogs are descendants of wolves.

It is virtually impossible to describe the typical appearance of wolves. Wolves of many large arctic islands and Greenland usually appear snow-white from a distance, but closer up often reveal gray, black, or reddish shades. Wolves of northern North America and Eurasia vary in color. A single pack may contain animals that are black, shades of gray-brown, and white. Wolves in the heavily forested areas of eastern North America are more uniform in color. They are often a grizzled gray-brown like some German shepherd dogs.

This colour variation is a good example of natural selection, which enables those animals best suited to a particular environment to survive. On the arctic islands, where much of the ground is snow-covered for at least nine months of the year, being white is a distinct advantage, so wolves in the Arctic may be nearly white. In the mottled grey, green, and brown world of the eastern forests the normal coat of the wolf is an effective camouflage. As a wolf moves stealthily, or rests, it blends into the background and is hardly seen.

Wolves in the Arctic have extremely dense underfur, which insulates them against rigorous winters. Another adaptation to environment is their habit of hunting in packs, or groups, which enables them to kill large animals -- deer, elk, moose, caribou, bison, and muskox.