What Does the Grey Wolf Eat?

Grey wolves are large carnivorous canines that can grow between 26 to 32 inches tall at the shoulder and stretch from 4.5 to 6.5 feet long. They are powerful, intelligent animals that eat a diet that consists completely of meat. There are many different size and species of animals that gray wolves eat.

  1. Large Game

    • Grey wolves eat primarily large game, with ungulates being their primary diet staple. An ungulate is any type of mammal with hooves. Hooved mammals that live near grey wolves include elk, white-tail deer, moose and caribou. A grey wolf may eat as much as 22 pounds of meat in a single meal, making these large mammals useful for large packs of wolves looking to feed. Multiple animals may be taken in a single hunt to feed an entire pack.

    Pack Hunting Methods

    • Wolves are highly intelligent pack hunters that use many different methods to take down their prey. One of their basic methods is the divide and conquer technique. Larger animals, such as moose are hunted via an entire pack. The wolves will chase a group of moose until they spot a weak one. They will use coordinated attack methods to drive it away from the rest of the moose and chase it until it collapses. The wolves will then share the spoils of their hunt.

    Small Game

    • Grey wolves are also known to eat smaller game if larger game is rare. These smaller game animals aren't usually enough to feed more than a single wolf. Pack hunting methods are not necessary for hunting these types of animals. Grey wolves have been observed eating rabbits, rodents, beavers, birds, musk rat and other smaller game. A wolf subsisting on small game may have to kill many small animals a day to satisfy its dietary needs.

    Scavengers

    • Wolves have been observed scavenging for food instead of hunting. Wolves will eat carcasses of dead animals as opposed to hunting them. They may also scavenge in trash bins or cans if they smell meat. Wolves generally scavenger when they are desperate and can survive for up to 14 days without eating any meat.

    Wolf Pup Diets

    • Wolf pup diets are essentially the same as their parents. However, a wolf pup does not hunt for itself. Instead, its parents bring back uneaten meat to the pup. Wolf pups may also subsist on regurgitated food from its parents. Wolf puppies will stalk and kill small rodents around the den. Pups use this experience as a way of learning hunting methods. A hungry pup may eat the rodent it has killed but will generally prefer the better meat its parents bring home. Generally, they only eat these rodents if food is scarce.