“For the best part of the last 100,000 years, the wolf was the world’s most abundant large predator and the most widespread land mammal on the planet. The wolf has its physiology to thank for this dominance. The dog anatomy deploys a lightweight and long-legged frame along with a large lung capacity and powerful jaws, which means it can outrun, out-bite, and generally outlast almost all other animals…”
在過去的10萬年中的絕大部分時候，狼是世界上數量最多的掠食者，也是陸地上分佈最廣的哺乳動物。狼可以穩居於食物鏈主宰的位置，乃拜它特殊的體格所賜。狼的身體結構，重量既輕，腿長得又長，肺活量大，爪子有力，換句話說，它可以跑得更快，咬得更狠，而且耐力比大部分的動物都還要強……
“…The advent of human civilization inevitably saw this range shrink, as the wolf was pushed out of the more fertile and temperature regions and forced to take refuge in the cold and barren habitats of the distant north. Today’s wolves are largely animals of taiga, the great boreal forest that ring the Arctic zones of North American and Eurasia…”
人類的文明已經進一步限縮狼的生存空間，它們從比較肥沃溫暖的地帶，被趕到比較冷而荒蕪的遙遠北邊棲身。現在的狼群，基本上是北美及歐亞地區環北極圈北方針葉林的動物。
“The pack is one of the most fascinating social groups in the animal kingdom. It is based around a single breeding pair, the alphas. Other members of the pack are mostly this pair’s sons and daughters of various ages, plus maybe some brothers, sisters and members of more extended family…”
狼群是動物界很特別的社會群體。主要是由兩隻成年的狼繁𧗠而成，其中也可能包括那兩隻成年狼的兄弟姊妹，或者是血緣更遠的親屬。
“…the wolf’s ability to adapt, to use cunning as well as strength and speed, to work as a team or to kill alone, sets it apart and allow it to live in nearly all kinds of land habitat, saving tropical forests. The world’s wolves have carved out many different ways of lives that see them catching fishes from rivers, snatching food from lions, pouncing on lemmings buried under snow, and bring down moose ten times their size…”
狼擅長於適應環境，它們既聰明又有力氣和速度，可以一起合作狩獵也可以單獨行動，如此與眾不同，使得它們除了熱帶的森林之外，幾乎可以在其他的任何棲地生存。世界各地的狼都發展出了各種不同的生存方式，它們能從溪河𥚃捕魚，從獅子眼皮子下搶食物，攻擊埋在雪下的旅鼠，放倒比它們身形大上10倍的麋鹿…..
“…Weighing just 500g(17oz) when newborn, the cub is blind and largely hairless for the first 15 days of life. Then its eyes open, showing the distinctive blue that will eventually fade into the adult yellow iris…and the cub is not able to walk until it reaches about a month old…(its mother) feeds them milk for about seven weeks…At the age of ten weeks, all cubs will be out of den, exploring the surroundings under the watchful gaze of their elders…”
狼初生時只重500公克，在最初的15天，眼睛是看不到的而且幾乎沒有什麼毛。小狼的眼睛是特別的藍色，在長大之後會變成黃色。在滿月前還不會走路，哺乳期大約7週。10週大的時候，小狼會開始離窩，在年長的狼照顧之下探索附近的環境……
“Wolves have dichromatic vision where reds and greens both appear as the same colour. The animal has acute hearing, but it’s primary sense is smell, which is used to track prey, detect threats and pick up signals from pack mates.”
狼是紅綠色盲，紅色和綠色在它們看起來是一樣的顏色。它們有很好的聽覺，但是主要是靠嗅覺，用來跟蹤獵物、偵測危險和接收狼群的訊號。
“The wolf and the rest dogs and foxes belong to the family of mammals known as Canidae and are often collectively described by the adjective ‘canine.’ The wolf, for example, is the biggest canine species. The term Canidae, canid and canine all derive from ‘canis,’ the Latin word for dog…”
狼、狗和狐狸都是屬於犬科的哺乳動物，通稱為「犬類」(canine)。以狼為例，它是體型最大的犬類。犬科的學名‘Canidae’、‘canid’ 或 ‘canine’ 這些字眼，皆𧗠生自’canis‘這個字，在拉丁文裏就是「犬」或「狗」的意思。
“Every pet is a wolf in disguise, with some breeds being a lot further from the primordial wild form than others. Despite the big difference in appearance, all domestic dogs belong to the grey wolf species and could breed successfully with their wild cousins.”
寵物狗的本質是狼，只是有些品種和野生狼的樣子差異較大。雖然表面看起來差異很大，但是馴養在家中的狗和灰狼是同種，可以交配生下子代。
*：Tom Jackson, “Wolves, Stunning Photographs of Nature’s Hunters in the Wild,” 2019, Amber Books Ltd.
2023/8/18 Wolves, Stunning Photographs of Nature’s Hunters in the Wild Damakey
