WOLVES AROUND THE WORLD
Come explore where wolves live.
Explore the current geographic ranges of wolves around the world and discover how different wolves are shaped by the landscapes they call home.
HOW TO EXPLORE
Click a highlighted range to learn more about the wolf found there. Zoom in to explore the landscape and move across the map to discover where wolves live today.
Distribution information: Current published datasets | Map reviewed: September 2026
ABOUT THE MAP
Wolf distributions shown here represent documented geographic ranges from available scientific and conservation datasets. Range boundaries are generalized by the source data and may not represent every location currently occupied by wolves. Distribution data are updated as new information becomes available.
Map data are compiled from scientific and conservation sources, including IUCN Red List and regional wildlife authorities.
STORIES, LEGENDS & LEGACY
Wolves have lived in the landscapes of human history as surely as they have lived in the natural world. Across cultures and centuries, they have appeared in stories of creation, loyalty, fear, protection, strength, transformation, and survival.
These stories belong to human history and culture—not to wolf biology. They are presented here to explore the many ways wolves have been understood and represented by people around the world.
🇮🇹 ITALY
Romulus & Remus - The legendary twin founders of Rome, said to have been abandoned as infants and suckled by a she-wolf before growing up to establish the city.
Senius & Aschius - The legendary founders of Siena, whose story connects the city to Rome through the legacy of Remus and the she-wolf.
Lupercalia — An ancient Roman festival of purification and fertility, associated with the Lupercal and the wolf symbolism surrounding Rome’s foundation traditions.
Greece. 🇬🇷
Lycaon — The legendary king of Arcadia who was transformed into a wolf after attempting to deceive Zeus with a horrifying feast.
🇱🇹 Lithuania
Iron Wolf — The legendary wolf that appeared in Grand Duke Gediminas’s dream, whose prophecy became associated with the founding of Vilnius.
Scandinavia. 🇳🇴🇸🇪🇩🇰
Fenrir — The great wolf of Norse mythology, bound by the gods and destined to break free at Ragnarök, where he brings destruction to the gods.
Sköll & Hati — The wolf brothers said to pursue the Sun and Moon across the heavens, catching them during Ragnarök.
Geri & Freki — Odin’s two wolves, who accompany the god and receive his share of food in Valhalla.
Mongolia. 🇲🇳
Börte Chino & Gua Maral — The blue-gray wolf and fallow doe who appear in the Secret History of the Mongols as ancestral figures at the beginning of the Mongol genealogy.
Japan. 🇯🇵
Ōkami — The sacred wolf of Japanese tradition, regarded in some Shinto traditions as a messenger and guardian of the mountains and protector of crops from wild animals.
Okuri-ōkami — The “escort wolf” of Japanese folklore, said to follow travelers through the mountains—sometimes protecting them, sometimes becoming dangerous if they stumble or show fear.
China. 🇨🇳
The Wolf of Zhongshan — A classic Chinese fable about a wolf who repays the kindness of the man who saves him with betrayal, becoming a cautionary tale about ingratitude.
The Celestial Wolf — The wolf of Chinese astronomy, represented by Sirius and associated with guarding the heavenly gate.
India. 🇮🇳
Rijrsava & the She-Wolf — A Rig Vedic tale in which Rijrsava gives a she-wolf the sheep she needs to feed her young, bringing punishment from his father and a plea to the Ashvins for his sight to be restored.
the Middle East
Salu'ah — A she-wolf-like creature of Arabian folklore, portrayed in traditional tales as a dangerous being that roamed the desert and preyed upon people.
Ireland. 🇮🇪
Cormac mac Airt & the Wolves — The legendary High King of Ireland, who was said to have been raised by wolves and later understood their speech.
Werewolves of Ossory — A medieval Irish tradition of people from Ossory who were said to transform into wolves, leaving their human bodies behind while they roamed the countryside.
France. 🇫🇷
Bisclavret — A medieval Breton lai by Marie de France about a nobleman who secretly becomes a wolf and is betrayed by his wife when she discovers his secret.
Portugal. 🇵🇹
Lobisomem — The Portuguese werewolf tradition, in which people were believed to transform into wolves or other animals under supernatural circumstances.
Romania. 🇷🇴
Pricolici — A creature of Romanian folklore associated with the wolf and werewolf traditions, sometimes described as a restless dead person capable of taking wolf form.
the Balkans / South Slavic traditions. 🇷🇸🇭🇷🇧🇦
Vukodlak — A South Slavic folkloric tradition of the werewolf, associated with people believed to return from death in wolf-like or transformed form.
Spain. 🇪🇸
Lobisón — A werewolf figure in Spanish and Iberian folklore, describing a person believed to transform into a wolf or wolf-like creature.
Turkey / Turkic traditions. 🇹🇷
Asena — The she-wolf of Turkic origin tradition who rescues an injured boy and becomes the legendary ancestor of the Ashina clan.
Ergenekon — The legendary homeland from which the Turks emerge after generations of seclusion, with the wolf serving as an important ancestral and guiding figure in the tradition.
Indigenous North American traditions
PAWNEE
The Wolf Star — Sirius, known to the Pawnee as the Wolf Star, was connected to the wolf's journey between the earthly and spirit worlds.
OJIBWE / ANISHINAABE
Ma’iingan — The wolf, known as Ma’iingan, is one of the animal beings represented in Anishinaabe clan traditions and carries an important place within Ojibwe relationships with the natural world.
INUIT
Amarok — The legendary giant wolf of Inuit tradition, said to hunt alone and prey upon people who venture into the Arctic wilderness alone at night.
MENOMINEE
Manabush & His Wolf Brother — A Menominee tradition in which Manabush’s twin brother could take the form of a wolf; after his death, his spirit became chief of the departed spirits in the west.
BLACKFOOT
The Wolf Trail (Makoiyohsokoyi) — A Blackfoot tradition in which wolves help a starving family learn how to hunt and live in cooperation with others; the wolves later become the Wolf Trail—the Milky Way—watching over the people.
CREE
Wisahkecahk & His Wolf Brother — Cree sacred stories describe Wisahkecahk and his wolf brother, Mahihkan, traveling together and learning through their adventures, with the wolf representing an important relationship between people and the canine world.
Scotland
The Wolf and the Fox — A Scottish folktale tradition in which the cunning fox repeatedly outwits the stronger but gullible wolf.
England
St. Edmund & the Wolf — The legend of the martyred King Edmund, whose severed head was said to have been found and guarded by a wolf until his followers recovered it.
Hungary 🇭🇺
The Táltos — A supernatural figure of Hungarian tradition, associated with extraordinary abilities, otherworldly journeys, and animal transformation in some later folk beliefs.
CHECHEN
The Wolf Mother — A Chechen origin tradition in which the legendary founder Turpalo-Noxchuo is said to have been raised by a loving she-wolf, reflecting the wolf's deep association with Chechen identity, courage, and independence.
AMAZIGH TRADITIONS
The Wolf & the Dog — An Amazigh tale in which the wolf and dog begin as brothers before the wolf's wild nature separates him from his domesticated sibling.
AINU
Horkew Kamuy — The wolf revered in Ainu tradition as a kamuy, or spiritual being, associated with hunting, the mountains, and the relationship between wolves and the Ainu people.
🇷🇺 RUSSIA
A World Connected by Wolves
Although wolves live in dramatically different environments, their story is connected by their remarkable adaptability, intelligence, and social bonds. Protecting wolves around the world means protecting the diverse landscapes they call home.