In captivity, wolves live about 16 years. In the wild, it's difficult to tell but some have lived up to 13 years and possibly longer.  Nevertheless, most die before they reach 8 years of age.  The natural causes of wolf death are primarily starvation which takes mostly pups, and death from other wolves in territorial disputes. In most wolf populations, disease is not a problem. Injuries from prey cause some deaths but not a very high percentage. Mange and canine parvovirus may be a problem in Wisconsin and Michigan's recovering population.

The average travel of a wolf is10 to 15 miles per day, but some travel over 30 miles in a day. Their usual travel speed is about 5 miles per hour.

Aside from a few germs and parasites, bears are sometimes enemies of wolves. Other wolves can be a major source of natural mortality, but even today, humans have the greatest potential for decimating the wolf populations. 

Wolves live in Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and possibly Washington. Within the last few years, several wolves have been killed in North and South Dakota apparently having dispersed from Minnesota, but no known breeding populations reside there. Efforts are underway to reintroduce the Mexican wolf, a subspecies of the gray wolf, to Arizona and New Mexico possibly as soon as spring of 1998. The red wolf, which is a different species from the gray wolf, has been reintroduced into North Carolina and into Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The wolf in Minnesota is on the federal list of endangered species but is considered threatened in Minnesota rather than endangered. Gray wolves may be downlisted to the "threatened" status in Wisconsin and Michigan in 1998. Gray wolves may be taken OFF the Endangered Species list in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan as early as 1999. Elsewhere in the 48 states, the wolf is considered endangered. Endangered means in danger of going extinct; threatened means that in the foreseeable future this species could become endangered. The wolves in Alaska and Canada are not on the endangered species list. 

There are between 5,227 and 8,060 in Alaska according to 1995 estimates. 

Wolves were exterminated deliberately by a government control program in the late 1920's, though some loners may have persisted. In 1995 and 1996, thirty-five wolves were reintroduced from Canada to Yellowstone. This new population increased to around 70 individuals by June of 1997.