MEXICAN WOLF: CHARACTERISTICS, REPRODUCTION, FEEDING - BIOLOGY - 2024

The Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is a placental mammal that belongs to the Canidae family. The disappearance of this iconic species from North America and Mexico is due to the fact that it has been hunted indiscriminately. At present, thanks to certain conservation policies, a few specimens have been reinserted into their natural habitat.

Canis lupus baileyi is the smallest gray wolf subspecies in North America. They are animals that are active both in the daytime and at night.

Source: pixabay.com

In addition, this species can communicate through body and facial expressions, being known for its howls, which can be heard 2 km away. They are used to maintain contact between members of a pack and to demarcate the territory.

In the wild they could live between seven and eight years, while in captivity they would probably last up to 15 years.

Behavior

The Mexican wolf is grouped in packs, forming a social unit. This group is made up of a male, female, subordinate adults, youngsters, and offspring. Within the pack, the Mexican wolves sleep, eat and play together.

In these there are hierarchical relationships. Only the dominant male, known as the alpha, and the alpha female can mate. Members that are last in this order are called omega.

One of the purposes of this social structure is cooperative hunting, which provides them with great nutritional benefits and allows them to save energy, since individual hunting would imply great physical wear and tear.

Each herd has its territory, which they mark out with their feces and urine. When they move, they usually do so in a row.

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) spread from Eurasia to North America approximately 70,000 to 23,000 years ago. This originated two different groups at the genetic and morphological level. One of these is represented by the extinct Beringian wolf and the other by modern wolf populations.

There is a theory that the Canis lupus baileyi was probably one of the first species to cross the Bering Strait to North America. This occurred after the extinction of the Berigian wolf, in the late Pleistocene.

Danger of extinction

Historically, the Mexican wolf was located in several regions. It was found in the desert area of ​​Chihuahua and Sonora, from central Mexico to western Texas, in New Mexico and Arizona.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the decline of moose and deer in the natural habitat of the Mexican wolf, resulted in it modifying its diet. Due to this they began to hunt the domestic cattle that were in the settlements near their ecological niche.

The near extermination of this animal was the result of several campaigns carried out by private entities and the government. The intention was to reduce the populations of these cattle predators, since they were preventing the expansion of the cattle industry in the area.

These policies were successful, as by 1950, Canis lupus baileyi had been practically eradicated from its original distribution.

It is in 1976 when the Mexican wolf was included in the Endangered Species Law. The reason was that only a few specimens remained at large.

Conservation actions

To avoid their complete extinction, Mexico and North America decided to capture a total of 5 wolves and submit them to a special program, where they would be bred in captivity.

These specimens, a female and four males, were captured alive in Mexico between 1977 and 1980. As part of this program, the environmental and biological needs were met so that they could live and reproduce naturally.

In 1998 the reintegration of captive species began in the United States. In Mexico, in 2011, CONANP together with the Group of Specialists for the Recovery of the Mexican Wolf, organized and carried out the first reintroduction experience.

The most recent release on Mexican lands was in September 2018, where the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas released, in their natural habitat, a family group of seven specimens.

The adult species wear a satellite telemetry collar, so that the herd can be monitored and their movements and activities can be known.

Currently, there are about 300 species, protected and in captivity, in Mexico and North America. Free-living Mexican wolves number more than 44.

Research

Planning strategies in the recovery of the Mexican wolf have been put into practice for more than three decades.

However, it is necessary to reach a consensus on the structuring of these recovery efforts, where the genetic characteristics of Canis lupus baileyi are taken into account.

The effects of inbreeding, when the population is so limited, could be unpredictable. Small populations may be at risk of extinction due to inbreeding depression.

However, there are greater threats that put the success of any recovery program for this species at risk. Among these are mortality and loss of natural habitat.

Due to this, efforts must be aimed at providing genetic diversity, but without leaving aside those factors that directly influence the successful recovery of the species.

General characteristics

Male Mexican wolf. Clark Jim, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Size and shape

The body of this animal is slender, with a strong and solid physical constitution. Adult Mexican wolves can measure between 1 and 1.8 meters. Its height, from its paw to the shoulder, is 60 to 80 centimeters. Body weight is around 25 to 40 kilograms.

The females are usually smaller, with a marked sexual dimorphism. These can weigh an average of 27 kilograms.

Head

Its skull is small, with an elongated shape. The muzzle is narrow, ending in a nasal pad. It has large ears, erect and rounded at the tip.

The neck is wide, but its size is short. Its teeth are made up of 42 teeth, within which are incisor, canine, premolar and molar teeth.

This group of animals have a keen sense of hearing and smell. In addition, they have binocular-type vision.

Tail

Its tail is covered in grayish-brown fur. It is long, in proportion to its body size.

Extremities

The legs are elongated with very wide pads. These could be 8.5 cm long by 10 cm wide.

Fur

The hair of Canis lupus baileyi is short, being more abundant in the dorsal region and around the shoulders. In the front area of ​​the back the fur forms a kind of mane, due to the fact that the hairs are much longer than in the rest of the body.

The coat has a yellowish brown tone, with black and gray brushstrokes. The underside, including the inside of the legs, is white.

Scent glands

It has glands that secrete strong odors, which it uses to mark territory. These are found on the genitals, around the eyes, at the base of the tail, and between the toes.

Taxonomy

Animal Kingdom.

Subkingdom Bilateria.

Chordate Phylum.

Vertebrate Subfilum.

Tetrapoda superclass.

Mammal class.

Subclass Theria.

Order Carnivora.

Suborder Caniformia.

Canidae family.

Genus Canis.

Canis lupus species

Subspecies Canis lupus baileyi

Habitat and distribution

The Mexican wolf was found in the southwestern region of North America, in the states of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. In addition, in Mexico it was found in the Sierra Madre Occidental, which includes the states of Sonora, Durango, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Jalisco and Zacatecas.

They also inhabited the Sierra Madre Oriental, in the mountains of Oaxaca and in the Neovolcanic Axis. In the 1960s, the population was isolated and very scarce. They were only located in the arid mountains of Chihuahua, in the Sierra Madre Occidental and west of Coahuila.

Habitat characteristics

Its habitat was temperate and steppe dry type, oak and coniferous forests. In the flat regions where it was found, grassland was abundant, with a predominance of the herbaceous plant known as navajita (Bouteloua spp.) And the holm oak (Quercus spp.), A tree belonging to the Fagaceae family.

Historically, Mexican wolves were associated with montane forests, which have terrain that may have adjacent grasslands.

The mountainous elevations are between 1,219 and 1,524 meters above sea level. The vegetation in these areas is pinyon (Pinus edulis), conifers, pines (Pinus spp.) And juniper (Juniperus spp.).

These habitats, typical of tropical climates, include the abundance of prey that is part of the diet of Canis lupus baileyi and the availability of bodies of water.

Reproduction

Mexican wolves are monogamous. In your family group there is an alpha male and female, who will be united until one of them dies. The acute sense of smell of these animals plays a preponderant role in their reproductive period.

The scent glands secrete pheromones that mix with the female's urine. Also, your vulva swells when you are in your estrous period. All these signals, chemical and visual, warn the male that the female is in heat, organically prepared to reproduce.

The Mexican gray wolf forms packs, where a male, a female and their young live, totaling between 4 and 9 animals. Only within each pack is it the alpha male who can reproduce. Mating occurs annually, generally between the months of February to March.

The estrus of a female can last between 5 and 14 days. During the mating period, tension within the herd may arise as each sexually mature male wishes to mate with a female.

Once the female is in gestation period, she must wait a period of 60 to 63 days for delivery. The litter could be 3 to 9 young.

The puppies

The young are born deaf and blind, which is why during the first weeks of life they do not go out of the den, where they receive the care of both parents. The mother cleans and suckles them, while the male is responsible for protecting them.

Puppies do not have teeth and the coat is usually a little darker than that of adults. However, it clears up until it becomes a grayish-brown tone, with black and white combinations.

Social hierarchies begin to be established at a very early age. At 21 days of being born, some confrontations between the cubs could already begin. This would define, little by little, the omega and beta members within the family group.

Once they have stopped being suckled, the cubs feed on a food mass regurgitated by the mother. At around three months of age, young wolves are much larger and stronger, so they begin to emerge from their burrow.

Feeding

Wolves are carnivorous animals, found at the top of the food chain. This makes the possible number of predators quite small.

It is estimated that the Mexican wolf, before disappearing from its natural habitat, fed on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), American antelopes (Antilocapra americana), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis).

They also ate collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu), hares, wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo), rodents and rabbits. When the availability of these species began to decline, he went to farms and killed livestock.

The hunt

These animals adjust their hunting behavior according to the size of the prey and whether they are found alone or in herds.

When mature, these animals have teeth adapted to cut and grind their prey. Their jaws are very powerful, allowing them to block their prey. In this way, the Mexican wolf keeps it bitten, while the prey tries to separate itself from the aggressor.

When they are eating, they use their pointed molars to extract the meat, trying to ingest as much of it as possible.

When hunting in a group, they strategically organize to ambush the victim. Those specimens that are not in any herd, are limited to hunting small animals, much easier to capture.

While a group of Mexican wolves are hunting, others are left taking care of the cubs. When the hunters return to the herd, those who have already eaten begin to regurgitate meat, offering it to the young so they can feed.

References

1. Wikipedia (2018). Mexican Wolf. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.
2. Larisa E.Hardinga, Jim Heffelfingera, David Paetkaub, Esther Rubina, JeffDolphina, AnisAoude (2016). Genetic management and setting recovery goals for Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) in the wild. Science direct. Recovered from sciencedirect.com.
3. Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. Government of Mexico (2018). #Environmental Actions. The Mexican wolf population recovers. Recovered from gob.mx.
4. Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. Government of Mexico (2016). The return of the Mexican wolf. Recovered from gob.mx.
5. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2017). Mexican Wolf Biological Report. Recovered from fws.gov
6. Mexican Biodiversity (2018). The Mexican wolf. Recovered from biodiversity.gob.mx.
7. ITIS (2018). Canis lupus baileyi. Recovered from itis.gov.
8. Wolf worlds (2014) Wolf Reproduction. Recovered from wolfworlds.com.