The Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus), also known as the common wolf,Mech, L. David (1981), The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species, University of Minnesota Press, p. 354, is a subspecies of grey wolf native to Europe and Asia. It was once widespread throughout Eurasia prior to the Middle Ages. Aside from an extensive paleontological record, Indo-European languages typically have several words for "wolf", thus attesting to the animal's abundance and cultural significance.Gamkrelidze, T. V. & Ivanov, V. V. (1995), Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture, Walter de Gruyter, pp. 413-417, It was held in high regard in Baltic, Celtic, Slavic, Turkic, ancient Greek, Roman, Dacian, and Thracian cultures, whilst having an ambivalent reputation in early Germanic cultures.
It is the largest of Old World grey wolves, averaging in Europe; however, exceptionally large individuals have weighed , though this varies according to region.Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N. P. (1998) Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol.II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears), Science Publishers, Inc. USA., pp. 184-187, Miller, G. S. (1912), Catalogue of the mammals of Western Europe (Europe exclusive of Russia) in the collection of the British museum, London, Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum, pp. 313-314 Its fur is relatively short and coarse, and is generally of a tawny colour, with white on the throat that barely extends to the cheeks. Melanists, albinos, and erythrists are rare, and mostly the result of wolf-dog hybridisation.Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N. P. (1998) Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol.II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears), Science Publishers, Inc. USA., pp. 166, According to Erik Zimen, the howl of the Eurasian wolf is much more protracted and melodious than that of North American grey wolf subspecies, whose howls are louder and have a stronger emphasis on the first syllable.Zimen, E. (1981), The Wolf: His Place in the Natural World, Souvenir Press, p. 73,
Many Eurasian wolf populations are forced to subsist largely on livestock and garbage in areas with dense human activity, though wild ungulates such as moose, red deer, roe deer and wild boar are still the most important food sources in Russia and the more mountainous regions of Eastern Europe. Other prey species include reindeer, argali, mouflon, wisent, saiga, ibex, chamois, wild goats, fallow deer, and musk deer.Peterson, R. O. & Ciucci, P. (2003), "The Wolf as a Carnivore", in Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, edited by L. David Mech and Luigi Boitani, pp. 104-130, Chicago: University Press
Physical description Build In describing North American wolves, John Richardson used European wolves as a basis for comparison, summarising the differences between the two forms as:
Size The size of Eurasian wolves is subject to geographic variation, with animals in Russia and Scandinavia being larger than those residing in Western Europe,Jardine, William. The Naturalists Library, Mammalia, Vol. IX: Dogs. Edinburgh: W.H. Lizars, 1839. having been compared by Theodore Roosevelt to the large wolves of north-western Montana and Washington. Adults from Russia measure in length, in shoulder height, and weigh on average , with a maximum weight of . The largest on record was killed after World War II in the Kobelyakski Area of the Poltavskij Region in the Ukrainian SSR, and weighed . Larger weights of have been reported in Ukraine, though the circumstances under which these latter animals were weighed are not known. Although similar in size to central Russian wolves, Swedish and Norwegian wolves tend to be more heavily built with deeper shoulders. One wolf killed in Romania was recorded to have weighed . In Italian wolves, excepting the tail, body lengths range from 110 to 148 cm, while shoulder height is 50–70 cm. Males weigh between and rarely .. The now extinct British wolves are known to have reached similar sizes to Arctic wolves.Owen, R., A history of British fossil mammals, and birds, J. Van Voorst, 1846
Range
Decline The extermination of Northern Europe's wolves first became an organized effort during the Middle Ages, and continued until the late 1800s. In England, wolf persecution was enforced by legislation, and the last wolf was likely killed in the late 15th century during the reign of Henry VII. Wolves survived longer in Scotland, where they sheltered in vast tracts of forest, which were subsequently burned down. Wolves managed to survive in the forests of Braemar and Sutherland until 1684. The extirpation of wolves in Ireland followed a similar course, with the last wolf believed to have been killed in 1786. A wolf bounty was introduced in Sweden in 1647, after the extermination of moose and reindeer forced wolves to feed on livestock. The Sami extirpated wolves in northern Sweden in organized drives. By 1960, few wolves remained in Sweden, due to the use of snowmobiles in hunting them, with the last specimen being killed in 1966. The grey wolf was exterminated in Denmark in 1772 and Norway's last wolf was killed in 1973. The species was almost wiped out in 20th-century Finland, despite regular dispersals from Russia. The grey wolf was present only in the eastern and northern parts of Finland by 1900, though its numbers increased after World War II.Fritts, S. H., et al. (2003), "Wolves and humans", in Wolves: Behavior, ecology and conservation, eds. L. D. Mech, and L. Boitani, pp. 289–316, Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press Although the Finnish wolf population rose by 2005 to around 250 individuals, by 2013, their numbers had again declined to the mid-1990s figure of around 140. This was despite government measures to keep breeding numbers viable. At the beginning of 2016, the wolf population was roughly 300-350 individuals.
In Central Europe, wolves were dramatically reduced in number during the early 19th century, due to organized hunts and reductions in ungulate populations. In Bavaria, the last wolf was killed in 1847, and wolves had disappeared from the Rhine regions by 1899 and largely disappeared in Switzerland before the end of the 19th century. In 1934, Nazi Germany introduced the first legislation regulating the protection of wolves. The last free-living wolf to be killed on the soil of present-day Germany before 1945 was the so-called "Tiger of Sabrodt", which was shot near Hoyerswerda, Lusatia (then Lower Silesia), in 1904. Today, wolves have returned to the area.
Wolf hunting in France was first institutionalized by Charlemagne between 800 and 813, when he established the , a special corps of wolf hunters. The was abolished after the French Revolution in 1789, but was re-established in 1814. In 1883, up to 1,386 wolves were killed, with many more by poison.
In Eastern Europe, wolves were never fully exterminated, due to the area's contiguity with Asia and its large forested areas. However, Eastern European wolf populations were reduced to very low numbers by the late 19th century. Wolves were extirpated in Slovakia during the first decade of the 20th century and, by the mid-20th century, could be found only in a few forested areas in eastern Poland. Wolves in the eastern Balkans benefitted from the region's contiguity with the former Soviet Union and large areas of plains, mountains, and farmlands. Wolves in Hungary occurred in only half the country around the start of the 20th century, and were largely restricted to the Carpathian Basin. Wolf populations in Romania remained largely substantial, with an average of 2,800 wolves being killed annually out of a population of 4,600 from 1955 to 1965. An all-time low was reached in 1967, when the population was reduced to 1,550 animals. The extermination of wolves in Bulgaria was relatively recent, as a previous population of about 1,000 animals in 1955 was reduced to about 100–200 in 1964. In Greece, the species disappeared from the southern Peloponnese in 1930. Despite periods of intense hunting during the 18th century, wolves never disappeared in the western Balkans, from Albania to the former Yugoslavia. Organized persecution of wolves began in Yugoslavia in 1923, with the setting up of the Wolf Extermination Committee in Kočevje, Slovenia. The committee was successful in reducing wolf numbers in the Dinaric Alps.
The grey wolf's range in the Soviet Union encompassed nearly the entire territory of the country, being absent only on the Solovetsky Islands, Franz-Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, and the Karagin, Commander, and Shantar Islands. The species was exterminated twice in Crimea, once after the Russian Civil War, and again after World War II.Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N. P. (1998) Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol.II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears), Science Publishers, Inc. USA., pp. 177-179, Following the two world wars, Soviet wolf populations peaked twice; 30,000 wolves were harvested annually from a population of 200,000 during the 1940s, with 40,000–50,000 harvested during peak years. Soviet wolf populations reached a low around 1970, disappearing over much of European Russia.Boitani, L. (2003), "Wolf Conservation and Recovery", in Wolves: Behavior, ecology and conservation, eds. L. D. Mech, and L. Boitani, pp. 317–340, Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press
As of 2017, the IUCN Red List still recorded the grey wolf as regionally extinct in eight European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Since then, wolves have returned to and, in some cases, firmly established themselves in all of those countries, except for the islands of Ireland and Great Britain.
Recovery
The recovery of European wolf populations began after the 1950s, when traditional pastoral and rural economies declined and thus removed the need to heavily persecute wolves. By the 1980s, small and isolated wolf populations expanded in the wake of decreased human density in rural areas and the recovery of wild prey populations.
In 1978, wolves began recolonising central Sweden after a 12-year absence, and have since expanded into southern Norway. As of 2005, the total number of Swedish and Norwegian wolves was estimated to be at least 100, including 11 breeding pairs. The grey wolf is fully protected in Sweden and partially controlled in Norway. The Scandinavian wolf populations owe their continued existence to neighbouring Finland's contiguity with the Republic of Karelia, which houses a large population of wolves. Wolves in Finland are protected throughout the country, and can be hunted only with specific permission. As of December 2021, the Swedish-Norwegian wolf seems to be extinct and any wolf individuals found in these countries appear to be solely Finland wolves.The Norwegian wolf is extinct. EurekAlert!, 1 December 2021. The decline in the moose populations has reduced the wolf's food supply. Juha Kauppinen, "Susien määrä yllättäen vähentynyt", Suomen Luonto, April 2008. "SS: Kuolleissa susissa vanhoja hauleja", Iltalehti, March 19, 2013. Since 2011, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark have also reported wolf sightings presumably by natural migration from adjacent countries."The wolf returns: Call of the wild", The Economist, (Dec. 22, 2012)"Det var en ulv" , (in Danish) Danish Nature Agency, (Dec. 7, 2012)