Classroom lesson 路 Wildlife馃嚨馃嚬 Portugal

The Iberian wolf

Portugal's quietest, cleverest pack hunter, living in the wild north

An Iberian wolf with thick grey-and-tan fur in a Portuguese forest

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The Iberian wolf is a kind of grey wolf that lives only in Portugal and Spain. It is a little smaller than the wolves of northern Europe, with a slimmer body and a sandy-grey-and-tan coat. It lives in family groups called packs in the wild forests and mountains of northern Portugal.

Tell me more

An Iberian wolf pack is usually a family: a mother, a father, and their grown-up children from the last few years. The pack works together. The grown-ups teach the younger wolves how to hunt, where to find water, and which paths are safe. They are very clever - more like dogs trained for one job than wild animals.

Wolves do not hunt with their nose to the wind only - they also talk to each other. They howl to call the pack together when they have been spread out, and they use little yips and body movements to coordinate when they hunt. Each pack has its own howl, a bit like an accent.

For a long time, Iberian wolves were very rare. Now, thanks to careful protection, around 300 wolves live in northern Portugal. They mostly hunt wild deer and wild boar, deep in the forests, and avoid people. Most Portuguese have never seen one, even if they live in wolf country.

Scientists who study them never see the wolves either. Instead, they follow paw prints in the mud and look for special places where the pack has 'marked' a trail. Camera traps in the forest can capture a glimpse of a wolf padding silently past in the early morning fog.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a wolf pack work better together than a wolf alone?
  2. 02Wolves teach their young by showing them how. What things have you learned by watching someone else do them?
  3. 03Why do you think people in many countries have told stories about wolves for so long?
Try this

Classroom activity

As a class, design a 'wolf pack rulebook'. What jobs would each member of the pack have? Who would be the lookout, who the teacher, who looks after the youngest? Compare with how a class works.