Glossary

AAZPA: American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums.

Acariasis: General term for a mite infestation.

Active Submission: Approaching a dominant wolf and licking or nipping its muzzle.

Adaptable: Able to change to fit the situation.

Aerial Netting: Firing a net from an elevated position, trapping the animal. This method is used most often without drugs and with a helicopter. It is kindest to the animals and the quickest way to get a wolf back to its pack after being collared.

AHA: American Humane Association

Alpha: The highest rank in the social order of each wolf pack. There are both alpha male and alpha female within each pack. Usually this pair are the parents of most of the other members of the pack, as generally only the Alpha pair mate. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet.

Alternative: A possible choice; a different method.

ARNWR: Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge – North Carolina

AZA: American Zoo and Aquarium Association

Beta: The second rank in the social order of a wolf pack. A pack may also have both a beta male and a beta female. A wolf at this rank will usually dominate all of the other wolves in its gender except the alpha wolf.

Balance of Nature: A state of equilibrium among the various living things and forces in the natural world.

Bider: A beta wolf, they are sometimes called this because they are waiting for their chance to become the alpha.

Biodegradable: Capable of decaying and being absorbed by the environment.

Biodiversity: Variety, complexity and relative abundance of species (plant and animal) present and interacting in an ecosystem.

Bison: The American Bison (Bison bison), also called Buffalo, is a bovine mammal that is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America.

Bloat: Gastric dilation-volvulus; distension of the stomach.

Bond: An attachment that an individual human or animal forms to another.

Bounty: A fee paid for catching or killing an animal that is viewed as unpopular or a nuisance.

Bred: Chose particular individuals to mate, so that their young would have particular physical features of behave in a certain way.

Burrow: A hole or tunnel dug in the ground by an animal, used as a home and hiding place.

Cache: A hiding place for food that the wolf can eat later.

Camouflage: Blending in with one’s surroundings.

Canidae: Taxonomic family name for dogs.

Canids: Members of the family (Canidae) to which dogs belong.

Canine: A member of a family of animals that includes dogs, wolves, foxes and coyotes.

Canine Distemper: A highly contagious viral disease that affects both wild and domestic canines; caused by (a paramyxovirus); characterized by acute upper respiratory disease signs and fever, and later by pneumonia, vomiting, diarrhea and neurological signs.

Canine Parvovirus: A viral disease that affects both wild and domestic canines.

Canine Teeth: Long, pointed teeth used for jabbing prey and ripping flesh; between the incisors and premolars; fang teeth.

Captive Breeding: The process of capturing animals from the wild and mating them in captivity in order to increase the species under protected conditions.

Captivity: When an animal lives in a zoo, sanctuary or wildlife park rather than in the wild.

Carcass: The body of a dead animal.

Carnassials: Large teeth near the back of an animal’s mouth, used for tearing meat.

Carnivore: An animal that eats meat.

Carrion: The decaying flesh from a dead animal.

CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Colostrum: Milk produced by the mother during the first few days after the birth of her puppies; high in protein and protective antibodies.

Contaminate: To make unclean or impure.

Convert: To change to something else.

COSEWIC: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada

Coterie: A small group of animals that are in frequent social contact.

Crossbreeding: Mating of animals of different species or subspecies that produces mixed offspring.

Culture: The way of life built up by a group of human beings and passed on from one generation to another.

Cusps: Sharp points of the tooth crown.

CWS: Canadian Wildlife Service

Data: A group of facts of information found by measuring or studying a situation.

Deciduous Teeth: Temporary teeth that are lost to make way for permanent teeth; baby teeth or milk teeth.

Dehydration: Loss of body water.

Den: Place where animals gather together to sleep and give birth to their young.

Deplete: To decrease or use up.

Dew Claw: A small claw on the front legs of most canines. It aids in digging.

Dispersal: The process in which young wolves leave their packs to form new ones.

Display: A pattern of activity where a creature shows off to others, often associated with mating.

Diurnal: Active during the day

Domestication: The process by which wild animals become suited to living with humans.

Dominant: Being in charge of, or leading … standing out, in this case the wolf that is stronger than the others. A dominant wolf holds its tail up, pricks its ears, and stand tall around a submissive wolf.

Dominate: To rank higher than another.

Ecology: The relationship between a living organism and its environment.

Ecosystem: An ecological community, along with its environment, viewed as a unit.

Encroachment: Physical occupation of space or habitat which was previously occupied by another species, resulting in displacement of this species or destruction of the species, if no alternative space or habitat is available.

Endangered: Referring to a species (plant or animal) currently in danger of extinction.

Endangered Species Act: A congressional act (16 U. S. C. 1531 et. seq.) passed in 1973 and amended through the years that provides for the identification and protection of species (plants and animals) currently in danger of extinction or threatened by extinction within the foreseeable future.

Euthanize: To kill as painlessly as possible. When we can’t find a home for an animal, or if it is suffering and we can’t relieve its pain or cure it, it is euthanized.

Exterminate: To deliberately and completely kill all the members of a group or species.

Extinct: No longer in existence.

Extirpate: To destroy or eliminate a species (plant or animal) from an entire area within its range, but not from the entire planet.

Family: A group of related plants or animals; in classification systems, family falls between order and genus in identifying living things.

Femur: Thigh bone.

Fertile: Capable of reproducing.

Fertilization: The penetration of the female egg by the male sperm in order to create offspring.

Food Chain: A series of organisms connected by their feeding habits; each link in the food chain is eaten by a larger one, which is eaten by a still larger one.

Forage: Plants or grasses eaten by grazing animals.

Founders: Wild wolves that have been captured to reproduce in a safe environment. After enough wolves have been bred they are released back into the wild.

Foveal Pit: a small depression at the back of the eyeball that permits focusing at a distance.

Gestation: The process of growth of an embryo inside a mammal’s body – the gestation period is the duration of a pregnancy.

Gland: A cell or group of cells in the skin that releases a liquid substance.

Grassland: A large, usually flat tract of land with some scattered bushes but few trees. Grasslands have different names on different continents, including pampas, prairie, steppe, and veldt.

Groom: To clean the body and make neat.

Guard Hairs: Coarse, thick, straight hairs that taper to a find tip; also called primary hairs.

Habitat: Environment where a species is normally found.

Herbivore: An animal that feeds on plants.

Hierarchy: The social structure of a wolf pack, based on positions of dominance and subordinance held by the pack members.

Hip Dysplasia: Hereditary developmental disease; failure of proper development of the hip joint.

Holarctic: a geographic term for the areas north of the Tropic of Cancer.

Home Range: The area normally traveled by an individual during its life span.

Hybrid: Mixed breed that occurs when two different subspecies of animals mate and bear young.

In Utero: Within the uterus.

Inbred: The result of inbreeding, or reproduction by closely related plants or animals.

Incisors: Long, sharp front teeth.

Instincts: Things that an animal is born knowing how to do.

Interdependence: When two or more things depend on each other.

Irreversible: Impossible to change back.

Insulation: A barrier that keeps heat from entering or leaving.

ISIS: International Species Information System.

IUCN: International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Keratin: Fibrous protein material found in the outer layer of fingernails, horns, and hooves.

Keystone Species: A species that plays a fundamental role in maintaining the plants and animals in an ecosystem.

Larva (plural larvae): The first stage of an insect’s life.

Leader: The one who leads the group/ pack.

Litter: A group of young born at the same time by one mother.

Livestock: Animals that are raised by ranchers and / or farmers such as goat, sheep, cow, and horse

Mammal: An animal that has a backbone, breathe’s air, feeds its young with mother’s milk, and regulates its own body temperature.

Mange: A contagious skin condition caused by burrowing mites.

Mating Season: The time of year during which animals come together to produce young.

Maxilla: The upper jaw.

Miacid: a primitive carnivore distributed from the Paleocene to the Oligocene epochs.

Migration: The regular movement of animals from one place to anothers, whether for reasons of climate, reproduction, or food.

Milk Teeth: The first, small teeth of a baby animal that will later fall out and be replaced by larger permanent teeth.

Muzzle: The snout; the nose and jaws of an animal.

Native: A person, animal or plant of a particular place.

Necropsy: Examination of an animal after death; autopsy of an animal.

Nocturnal: Active at night

Nurse: To drink mother’s milk

Nutrient: A nourishing substance.

Olfactory: Pertaining to smell.

Omega: Lowest ranking member in the social order of a wolf pack.

Omnivore: A creature that eats both plants and animals.

Order: A group of related animals or plants.

Pack: The name given to a group of hunting animals such as wild dogs or wolves.

Parasite: Tiny creatures, such as fleas, ticks or mites, that feed on larger animals, sucking their blood.

Pelage: The entire coat of hair or fur, including the soft, furry undercoat as well as the coarse guard hairs, on a mammal.

Pheromones: Chemical secretions from an animal to attract another, or display territory boundaries.

Poaching: Illegal taking of wildlife.

Precaudal Gland: a gland on the dorsal surface of a wolf’s tail.

Predation: The act of an animal capturing and eating other animals.

Predator: An animal that hunts and kills other animals.

Prey: An animal hunted by other animals for food.

Prey Efficiency: the percentage of pursued prey animals that are successfully captured.

Pup: Young canines.

Rabies: Disease that affects an animal’s brain and causes the animal to wander and bit at other animals. It is spread by the bite of an infected animal.

Raised-leg Urination (RLU): Urinating with one hind leg raised.

Range: Geographical area in which an animal can be found.

Recolonization: The natural restoration of a population to an area within its original range.

Recovery: Natural or assisted restoration of a population to specified levels for minimum number of consecutive years to a designated area within its original range.

Regurgitate: Bring up food from the stomach that has not been digested. Some animals regurgitate food for their young, not always because they are sick.

Rehabilitate: To bring back to good condition.

Reintroduction: Act of bringing individuals of a certain species (plant or animal) back into a designated area within the species’ original range, but from which it was extirpated or nearly eliminated. The purpose of reintroduction is to establish a new population in the wild.

Rendezvous Site: A place where pack members meet between hunting trips and where the pack moves when the pups are old enough to move out of the den.

Reproduce: To have / create offspring.

Resources: A supply of environmental benefits, like water, or sunlight.

Retractable: Capable of being hidden, as in parts of an animal’s body.

Sanitation Effect: the removal of biologically weak or inferior animals from a prey population.

Scat: Fecal matter or feces.

Scent-marking: Act of marking an area with body odor, scent from a gland, or urine or scat. This technique is used by wolves to communicate with other wolves and animals. For example, scent marks tell other wolves the locations of a pack’s boundaries.

Scientific Name: A name, usually from the Latin language, that scientists give to a plant or an animal.

Secondary Hairs: Fine hairs making up the undercoat; also called under hairs.

Social: Preferring the company of other creatures rather than being alone. Animals that are social like to be around each other and usually gather in a group.

Species: Distinct kinds of individual plants or animals that have common traits and share a common name.

Stalk: To follow prey stealthily and quietly.

Submission: Showing weakness or subordinance.

Submit: To let another animal boss or lead. Submissive wolves lower their tails, lay their ears back and roll over on their back around dominant wolves.

Subordinate: A less important, lower ranking member of a group.

Subspecies: A smaller group of plants or animals within a particular species.

Sustainable: Able to be used in a way that does not deplete; renewable.

Symbiosis: A relationship between animals where each gains particular benefits from living close to the other; such animals are said to have a symbiotic relationship.

Taxonomy: The systematic classification of living organisms.

Territory: The area occupied by a single animals or group of animals, to the exclusion of others of the same species; often defended by aggressive displays.

Territorial: To consider an area of land as your own and to keep strange members of your species out by using warnings or fighting, if needed. Animals such as deer that are not territorial are said to have home ranges. This means that they have certain areas where they live but they don’t defend them.

Threatened: Animals or plants that are in danger of extinction in a part of their range.

Tracks: Footprints, in this case left by the foot of an animal.

Tundra: Flat land in the Arctic where no trees grow.

Underfur: Pale, short fine hairs in the coat that help keep the animal warm. The underfur has an oily substance that makes them water-resistant.

Ungulate: A hoofed mammal, such as deer, elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, moose, antelope, caribou and bison.

Urban: Having to do with a town or a city.

USFWS: United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Vertebrate: An animal with a backbone.

Viable Population: A self-supporting population with sufficient numbers and genetic variety among healthy individuals and breeding pairs that are well enough distributed to ensure that the species will not become threatened, endangered or extinct in the foreseeable future.

Vulnerable: Capable of being hurt or damaged.

Wean: To stop feeding a pup milk and start feeding it solid foods.

Whelp: To give birth; said of female dogs.

Wolfdog: Common name for wolf hybrid.

Wolfers: Hunters who were hired to kill wolves by people who didn’t want any wolves around.

Yearling: An animal between one and two years old.

Scientific classification is how scientists categorize and name plants and animals.

Why do we need scientific classification?

In order to effectively study plants and animals, all scientists need to use the same names. Using the same names keeps scientists from getting confused about what species is being referred to. Our current day classification system was created by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeaus in 1757; this is what we refer to as Taxonomy.