Timber Wolf

The timber wolf is a cunning pack predator found in the wild forests and the vast plains. They're often heard rather than seen, their eerie howling ringing through the air as they coordinate with each other, patrolling their territory and hunting down prey. They prefer to avoid more civilized areas, finding them too noisy.
In battle, they combine their speed with simple but functional tactics, flanking prey and biting them, trying to drag them to the ground to be easily finished off.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The timber wolf is a lithe, quadrupedal canine. It's covered in a silvery coat of fur. Their muzzle is filled with sharp teeth.

Genetics and Reproduction

Timber wolves are monogamous and only change partners when one of them dies. When food is plenty and they aren't currently raising a litter, the main couple will breed. In the sixty to seventy days it takes for the pups to gestate, the flock either appropriates or constructs a den for the female to rest and give birth in.

Growth Rate & Stages

Timber wolf pups are born blind, deaf and almost hairless. They stay with their mother for sixty to ninety cycles, during which they quickly start growing and developing. Not only do their senses sharpen, their teeth also grow out and they start engaging in social behavior. At the end of the period, the pups are ready to leave the den and can hunt alongside the adults. They stay with their parents for typically acouple of years before setting off on their own.

Ecology and Habitats

As the name indicate, timber wolves are quite at home in forests, but also take to more open plains areas as well. As carnivores, they keep the population of other species down, eating a variety of small to medium size animals, occasionally bringing down larger fare, especially the sick and elderly.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Timber wolves are carnivores, hunting down a variety of animals using pack tactics. The leading pair usually has first pickings, with non-cub timber wolves being last in line if there's not enough food to go around.

Additional Information

Social Structure

The central unit of a wolf pack is the main couple, a male and female who have joined together. These two will stick together until death separates them. The rest of the pack consist usually of their own children, the occasional adopted child and family members who've stuck around. Timbers wolves are territorial and warn of other packs via scents and scratch marks.

Domestication

Dogs descend from domesticated wolves and in some places, people still manage to live alongside timber wolves. The lupines don't see most sapient species as food, unless truly desperate, but can come to see them as providers.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Timber wolves are quite common and has spread to a high number of spheres.

Average Intelligence

Timber wolves have a high social intelligence and have demonstrated the capacity to communicate a wide variety of concepts to each other, even at a distance thanks to their howls. They also display tactical abilities, especially demonstrated when they hunt.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The keen eyes of the timber wolf allow the animal to spot things quite easily, even during less than optimal light conditions. They combine this with a sharp sense of smell, which enables them to track prey over long distances.

Scientific Name

Silva Lupus

Lifespan

6 - 8 years

Average Height

0.6 - 0,8 meters

Average Weight

55 - 80 kilos

Average Length

1.5 to 2 meters