Grey Wolf and Arctic Wolf

Such beautiful creatures and very much maligned. Photographed at the Calgary Zoo - I'm never likely to get a chance to see them in the wild, but would love to.

"The Arctic Wolf (Canis lupus arctos), also called Polar Wolf or White Wolf, is a mammal of the Canidae family, and a subspecies of the Gray Wolf. Arctic Wolves inhabit the Canadian Arctic, Alaska and the northern parts of Greenland." From Wikipedia.

"Originally, the Grey Wolf was the world's most widely distributed mammal. It has become extinct in much of Western Europe, in Mexico and much of the USA, and their present distribution is more restricted; wolves occur primarily in wilderness and remote areas. Their original worldwide range has been reduced by about one-third by poisoning and deliberate persecution due to depredation on livestock. Since about 1970, legal protection, land-use changes and rural human population shifts to cities have arrested wolf population declines and fostered reintroduction and natural recolonization in parts of its range. Continued threats include competition with humans for livestock, especially in developing countries, exaggerated concern by the public regarding the threat and danger of wolves, and fragmentation of habitat, with resulting areas becoming too small for populations with long-term viability.

Although the Grey Wolf still faces some threats, its relatively widespread range and stable population trend mean that the species does not meet, or nearly meet, any of the criteria for the threatened categories. Therefore, it is assessed as Least Concern." From www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/3746