The eastern wolf is intermediate in size between the coyote and gray wolf, with females weighing 53 lb on average and males 67 lb. Like the gray wolf, its average lifespan is 3–4 years, with a maximum of 15 years. The eastern wolf primarily targets small to medium-sized prey items like white-tailed deer and beavers, unlike the gray wolf, which can effectively hunt large ungulates like caribou, elk, moose and bison. Since the discovery in 1963 that eastern wolves answered human imitations of their howls. The wolf is prominently portrayed in Algonquin mythology, where it is referred to as ma-hei-gan or nah-poo-tee in the Algonquian languages.

The former range of the eastern wolf included southern Quebec, most of Ontario, the Great Lakes states, New York State and New England. Today, the Great Lakes wolf is generally found in the northern halves of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, southeastern Manitoba and northern Ontario. Eastern Wolves are usually found in mixed forests and coniferous and mixed forests southern range. They prefer to have their dens closer to wetlands, water, conifers, on steep slopes, and away from roads. Their territories are an average of 200 km², but can be up to 500 km² or more. However, not much intact wilderness is left, and the Eastern Wolf is sensitive to disturbance and human landscapes, so territories are generally much smaller and cannot sustain healthy pack numbers.