Cuddling with Arctic Wolves: A Photographer’s Experience

Arctic wolves have white fur year-round which allows them to blend into their snowy surroundings. Their coat is long and silky with soft, thick under fur.

Tanja Askani with her artic wolves Nanuk an Noran in the snow .

This is shed in the spring and the coat becomes shorter and less dense. The lengthy tail is bushy, and the legs are long giving it a lanky appearance. The feet are large and digitate with non-retractable claws.

The forefeet have five toes and the hind feet have four. The skull is broad and the face and ears are well defined. Ears are slightly rounded and the face is less pointed than other species of wolf.

This wolf is a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus). The year-round white coats and slightly shorter ears and noses distinguish them from the other subspecies of Canis lupus.