Gray wolf in Wisconsin

A collared gray wolf in Wisconsin. Photo courtesy of Michele Woodford.

A growing population of wolves now lives in Wisconsin, one of about a dozen states in the country where gray wolves exist in the wild. Gray wolves, also referred to as timber wolves, are the largest wild members of the dog family. Wolves are social animals, living in a family group, or pack. A wolf pack's territory may cover 20-80 square miles, about one tenth the size of an average Wisconsin county. The gray wolf was removed from the state endangered species list in 2004 and was federally delisted on January 27, 2012.