Canis lupus orion

The Greenland Wolf is a subspecies of wolf that is also found on Ellesmere island; a large, close by island just northwest of Greenland. A majority of the current Greenlandic population lives in northern Greenland, including Northeast Greenland National Park. Their population in Greenland is considered to be low by most sources, though the exact numbers vary. Within Greenland the population is inbred, indicating that they may have a wild population syndrome called inbreeding depression. The recorded size of the wolf is based upon a few samples of malnourished individuals. As such it is not published on this page.

This subspecies likely started forming about 7,600 years ago. As all animals with a cosmopolitan distribution, the animals develop their own culture. Their hunting preferences in Greenland focus on ease of kill, and unlike some other wolves subsist largely on a diet of Lagomorphs. They also subsist on muskoxen calves, and prey upon seal sometimes. On Ellesmere they hunt adult musk oxen more freely. In Ellesmere Island a National Geographic team recorded a family who traveled freely around their territory with their pups, aged at 12 weeks. The family nullified the need of a rendezvous site and fed the pups meat straight from the carcass. The wolves in Greenland have higher rates of distances between territories. This is suspected to be a result of the sparse climate, however it could also be a result of historical poisoning and invisible-to-human barriers.

It's scientific name is based off of the constellation Orion or the hunter it is based on.The constellation is an hourglass with three stars in the center. Why the wolves were named after Orion is currently unclear to this writer, but it is likely that the person who named them, Reginald Pocock, felt that Orion was important to distinguish the wolves, as the two other subspecies he named were C.l. arabs and C.l. arctos. Both refer to their location rather then their symbolic traits. So why was this subspecies referred to as orion instead of groenlandicus (as the Ellesmere population had been assigned with arctos at the time)?

Perhaps it is an association with winter, as in the northern hemisphere Orion shows up from autumn and early spring. It is also near Sirius, the dog in the sky. Maybe the constellation had an impact on the people from Greenland, such as dog sledders or the wolves' habitat, and he took this opportunity to slide it in.

Or perhaps it was in reference to the hunter. The myths of Orion that I have found do not have any mentions of a wolf in particular, though its possible one did. Artemis is important in some of the myths of Orion, and she is associated with wolves, though that might be stretching it. Or maybe he felt that Greenland wolves hunted in a way he imagined Orion did.

Indigenous
Saqqaq: (Greenland) Empty

Independence I: Empty (Greenland)

Independence II: Empty (Greenland)

Dorset: (Greenland & Ellesemere) Empty

Thule: (Ellesmere) Empty

Obscure Modern: In 1875 the book "Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo" was published by expert glaciologist, anthropologist, and Inuit ally Hinrich Rink. He mentions that the word "amarok" refers to wolves in most Inuit languages, but in Greenland it refers to a different creature told in tales. The amaroks are described in such a way that emphasizes their descendance from wolves, hinting that either Hinrich or the people he spoke insisted on adding a link between them. The amarok is described as being similar to a giant wolf, however the text suggests that they had different qualities besides size, but it doesn't go into detail at what those are. However, the tail may be longer than in wolves and prehensile (at least for a tale).

The role wolves themselves play in the cultures was not documented.

Kalaalit: (Greenland) Empty

Tunumiit: (Greenland) Empty

Inughuit: (Greenland) Empty

Colonial/Non-Indigenous
Vikings: Empty

Danes:

Other: For a period of 40 years colonists extinguished the local population, mostly through poison. Ironic to some modern concepts, Greenland wolf pelts were considered to be of low value due to their scarcity. Danes, Norwegians, and possibly other settlers such as English partook in this event.

Modern
See white wolves.