Wulfra

The Wulfra is the National Animal of Sozy. It lives spread over the island part of Sozy, particularly in the North and most populous in the mountain area.

Anatomy and mortality

The average Wulfra weighs 60 kg (130 lb), and is about 1 to 1.5 m (40 to 60 in) long with the tail being roughly a third of their body length. The males and females are of the same size, though at birth, the females are slightly bigger. The coloration runs from grey to grey brown, they adapt their hair to the climate, Wulfras in the North of Sozy have white tins, whereas the Wulfras in the forests have dark-grey tints. His eyes have a silver or golden colour, but they can also have one golden and one silver eye.

The Wulfra's body is thin, for high-speed running. The most powerful muscles are in his legs. Their paws are well-adapted to any kind of surface.

His coat is also well resistant to the harsh climates. The two layer coat keeps out water and dirt, whilst it also leeps the animal warm. The Females keep their winter coat further into spring than the male Wulfras.

The tooth configuration is the same as that of the Grey Wolf: The upper jaw has 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 premolars, and 4 molars. The bottom jaw has 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 premolars, and 6 molars. The canines are by far most important, as they are used to catch and hold prey. One common reason for wolves to starve is tooth damage after being kicked by larger prey.

Mortality:

There has been an unofficial record of a Wulfra that became 30 years old. But most reach 16 years in the wild and approximately 24 years in captivity. Many pups do not survive the harsh winter. Wulfras have become more vulnerable to diseases over the past few decades. Deforestation and urbanisation caused mass-death of many Wulfras, but in the wild Wulfra populations adapt quickly to the amount of preys in their territory.

Social structure

Wulfras live in packs, they are social predators that cooperate during hunting and protection of territory. There is a very strict social hierarchy, one pack is led by a female and a male (the alphas). The alpha pairs, like other Wulfra pairs, are completely monogamous. But the loss of one of the couple means the other will just immediately find a new mate. The hierarchy isn’t quite noticeable in the large packs Wulfras live, but generally, the most active male and female (during hunting) are the alphas. A Wulfra pack can consist out of 20 to 40 members: but the median pack sizes have decreased dramatically the last decade.

In a Wulfra pack, all animals are allowed to produce offspring, all members of the pack get the same food. One could say that instead of autocrats the alphas are the oligarchs: the couple with wisdom and experience. Of course, the alphas like to maintain their power and do so by putting psychological pressure on the other members of the pack. This differs per attitude of an entire pack of course. There rarely is any serious fighting amongst challengers and the established, but they do occur.

When a fight does occur, the challengers will first try to psychologically force the other to give in immediately, physical threats happen. The Wulfras step around eachother in a small circle, with the other members of the pack watching at a distance. When it comes to a fight, the challenger rarely hit eachother fatal. The looser occasionally leaves the pack, but usual joins the pack, in a lower rank. Females may show off fights like these in the winter months, this is not for dominance, but for the protection of her pups.

Fighting for dominance occurs, but is not preferred by either side.

All Wulfras in a pack mate, although the alphas have the highest chance of growing up their pups. Pups generally stay in the pack for a long time, mostly their entire live. But many pups die in the first year (see mortality).

Wulfras are fierce in protecting their territory. Wulfras know this from each other, but may try to intrude each other’s territory. In a “territorial dispute” Wulfras are moe likely to fight than in an internal dispute. Sometimes a Wulfra leaves its birth pack to form a new pack. In the search of wolves and food rich territory, some Wulfras have been reported to walk 250 kilometres from their birth territory, this explains most of the encounters with humans.

Hunting

The wolf is somewhat opportunistic and will eat what it comes across as long as it is reasonably fresh. Packs of wolves hunt any large herbivore in their range, while lone wolves are more prone to take and eat anything that comes across, including rodents. The hunting methods ranges from surprise attacks on smaller animals such as rabbits and rodents to long lasting chases. Wolves can chase large prey for several hours before giving up, but the success rate is rather low.

The prey of a Wulfra really depends on the mood & condition of the pack and the environment. Generally, Wulfras main food are rabbirs and rodents. But a large pack may organise chases on larger herbivores (like Elk). A strategic and successful hunt supplies a good food source for a pack. But especially in the winter times, any food Wulfras come across they will eat.

Hunting domestic animals

Some packs are known to frequently attack domestic animals. This behaviour is not properly studied yet, it is strange because they are shy to humans, and they likely know humans are often somewhere close to domestic animals. Pro-farmer laws allow farmers to shoot Wulfras if they threaten their stock, but on the vast cattle ranch, the farmer may be too late. As more and more Wulfras are being re-introduced, farmers and experts in Sozy try to find a way to take care of these Wulfra packs.

Communication

The Wulfras have a significantly developed communication system, mainly consisting out howls. Recent tests with sensitive sound aparatus show the great variety of the howls. The Wulfra sounds are categorised in 4 groups.

A group --> Howls to call for support

B group --> Howls during hunting

C group --> Howls to threaten or to bluff in or before a fight

X group --> Any other sounds made by the Wulfra.

Reproduction

All Wulfras in a pack breed, with the success of being able to produce and maintain healthy pups is dependent on their social ranking. A Wulfra is sexually mature at when it is two and a half years old. Breeding only occurs once a year with the same mate, and as Wulfras are (with rare exceptions) monogamous mating doesn’t occur often. Mating occurs between February and March, but there have been reports of mating in January in Sozy National Park.

Wolfs and humans

The Wulfra has been in Sozy as long as there have been humans, they are thought to have arrived here at the same time as The first Sozians. It is not difficult to understand that the Wulfra and the Sozian people share a long history. The Wulfra packs have seen many human governments come and go.

The Wulfra: domesticate it, perish it, protect it?

This has been a serious issue starting in the 21th century. The pet owners want to be able to buy a Wulfra as a nice domesticated animal, the trouble is, the Wulfra is a wild animal, and will never be a pet. The government’s policy has long been to not look after this animal that did not adapt to the “glorious” industrialisation of Sozy. But now the the Environmentalists are being listened to by a great part of Sozy. The future of this rebellious and beautiful animal lies in the hands of humans.

The cultural impact of the Wolf

It cannot be denied that the Wulfra had a great impact on our culture, after all, it arrived together with the The first Sozians. The Sozian pagan religion, by far the largest in Sozy, honours this animal. In many pagan texts the character is a Wulfra (more information on this soon). The Wulfra is the symbol of strength, loyalty and freedom, and is carried as emblem by the Sozian police.

Wolf hunting

Commercial Wulfra hunting and trapping is to be outlawed, this industry is to be disbanded before 18th April 2005.

Wulfra hunting and trapping is allowed on grand estates, but only in the hunting season. Domestic breeding of Wulfras on these estates for the use of hunting or trapping is illegal by law.