by Célia (Feb 8, 2005)

The wolf belongs to the canine family. It is a carnivore mammal, which can live for16 years. It appeared one million years ago in the north of America. Then it travelled up to the north of Eurasia. There are two species of wolves : the grey wolf, or Canis lupus, which lives in Europe, Asia and North America, and the red wolf, or Canis rufus, which lives in Texas and the south-east of the United States. It is very intelligent. It is around 140 cm long and it weighs beetween 25 and 50 kg. Its coat varies between red, grey and black. Its smell is its most developed sense : it is 100 times as fine as that of man. It is famous for its yellow and phosphorescent eyes. It eats 2.5 kg of meat every day and it can eat wild berries, some fish in case of shortages. And contrary to people’s beliefs, it doesn't hunt for pleasure but only to survive. The wolf is a very social animal. It lives and hunts in a pack and it hardly survives without its pack. Only the dominant couple breeds and a litter accounts from 5 to 7 cubs.

Mysterious and badly known, the wolf is surrounded with an aura of terror. The fear of the wolf is especially due to the church which indicated it as God's avenging arm. According to countries, times and beliefs, the wolf embodies the good and the evil. In many civilisations, the wolf is considered as a divine animal. For the Romans and the Greek, it represents fertility, and in China, light. It is used in pharmacopoeia : its canines are wanted for children teeth; its heart is wanted for epilepsy or to give courage ; its head, hung at the doors of the houses, was used to resist all charms and poisonings ........

Many strange stories surround the wolf :

- children-wolves were little babies removed and raised by wolves. They live, eat and move like wolves. When humans find them, they never survive because they don't know how to live like humans. The most famous example is the case of Remus and Romulus who were raised by a wolf. Romulus will kill his brother and will found Rome.

- lycanthropia was a very widespread belief in the middle ages. The werewolf was a human who changed into a wolf at full moon. When you were bitten by a werewolf, you became a werewolf. The only way to kill a werewolf was to shoot him with silver balls.

- the animal of Gévaudan was an animal who killed 99 persons, especially women, by 1670 in Gévaudan. The case lasted for 3 years and it was never known which animal it was. But people believed for a long time that it was a big wolf, and a lot of wolves were killed during this period.

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