Wolves can run up to 26 mph over a short distance and have incredible endurance for longer distances, but their long-legged prey can out run them in a straight race. Wolves possess a keen sense of smell and acute hearing. Their eyesight is less sharp. From a distance they can see objects moving but cannot tell what they are until a scent is picked up. Wolves have a highly developed social structure and commonly operate as a pack, typically a family group of parents and pups and often several members of earlier litters.
Adults teach the young to hunt and kill.
The pack occupies a fixed home range around the den, which may be anywhere from 100 to 260 square miles. The pack may split up to hunt but rejoin again later. Sometimes wolves travel singly, simply living alone. They will migrate, following the caribou in spring. The density of wolves in an area varies depending upon the availability of prey.