Unlike other large carnivores, wolves are social animals. They live in packs with a complex social structure.

Each individual has their place and rank and must show this to others through their behaviour. Only the dominant pair, known as the 'alpha' pair, can reproduce.

Wolves communicate by marking their territory and through a range of sounds, such as growls and howls that can be heard several kilometres away.

These canids hunt in packs. The size of the prey depends on the size of the group.

The European wolf has a beige-grey coat, hence its name grey wolf, while the Mackenzie wolf shows great variation in colour, ranging from white to black. The coat thickens in winter, providing better protection against the cold and wind.

Wolves have five toes on their front paws and four on their hind paws. Their slanted eyes have yellow irises.

Hunting, the decline in wild ungulate populations and deforestation had led to the extinction of the wolf in France by around 1940. It naturally repopulated the country during the 1990s, originating from Italian packs. It is now found in around fifteen departments, with an estimated population of 500 individuals. It is a species strictly protected by international treaties ratified by France (Bern Convention, Washington Convention).