This has reduced their natural ranges to rather small or remote areas. They still have naturally stable populations in Canada and Alaska. Of the lower 48 continental United States, only Minnesota has a stable, self supporting wolf population. An additional population lives in northern Mexico. Efforts by the US government to return the wolf to its former ranges in the western United States have been strongly resisted by local cattlemen, ranchers and hunters who pledge to shoot, trap and poison any released wolves.
Wolves are pack animals.
The pack is led by a dominant male and female pair and usually consists of these two individuals with their two to six offspring, although large packs of up to 36 animals have been observed. Typically only the dominant male and female will breed. One of the difficulties in maintaining stable wolf populations is the large ranges of open land they require. A single pack may require a territory between 50 and 5000 square miles. Wolves hunt and eat a variety of large game animals such as deer, moose, elk, and mountian sheep.