LIFESTYLE NEWS - After receiving numerous messages and emails regarding wolves, George-based animal behaviourist George van Huyssteen wrote an article about wolf families and why wolves are often misunderstood.
"When I was young, we watched a TV show called Oorlewing. At the time, it was believed that the leader of a wolf pack was a fearless dictator, and the label 'alpha male' was given. His chosen mate was called the alpha female, and together, they 'dominated' the other wolves.
"Because of another belief that our dogs are direct descendants of wolves, the dominance theory started, suggesting you should dominate your dog and must be the 'pack leader'.
"Luckily, this old, outdated belief was debunked many years ago, and today, we know better."
So, what is a wolf pack?
In a wolf pack, there is typically a male (formerly known as alpha male) and female (formerly known as alpha female) in modern literature referred to as the breeding pair, along with their pups from the past few years.
Usually, four to six pups are born together in a litter, and these pups are referred to as littermates. Their initial home is typically a den, which may be a small cave or a hole dug in the ground.
The den must be large enough to provide shelter for the mother and pups from the weather, as well as protection from other animals that may pose a threat to them. Packs may use the same den for multiple years, or they may seek out a new den annually.
Around 10 to 14 days after the pups are born, they open their eyes.
By two weeks of age, the pups can start to walk, and about a week after that, they may come out of the den for the first time. Initially, they rely solely on their mother's milk for nourishment.
When they reach three weeks of age, they begin to consume meat. Since the pups are too young to hunt, adult wolves bring them meat in their stomachs. The pups lick around the mouth of the adult when they return from the hunt, and the food is regurgitated into the cub's mouth. Although this may seem unpleasant to us, wolf pups enjoy it and consume the regurgitated meat within seconds.
All the wolves in a pack work together to care for the pups. When the pups are very small, other pack members bring food to the mother so she can remain in the den with them.
As the pups grow, pack members take turns bringing them food, playing with them, and even providing supervision. Once the pups are around eight weeks old, the adults guide them to a rendezvous site in an open area.
At the rendezvous site, the wolves gather to sleep, play, eat, and socialise. This environment allows the pups to learn essential skills and behaviours, such as hunting and interacting within the pack dynamic.
Puppies also engage in playful behaviour with 'toys' such as bones, feathers, or the skins of deceased animals.
During these playful interactions, they pretend to 'kill' these toys repeatedly and proudly carry them around as if they were trophies.
As the puppies grow and develop, they gradually hone the skills acquired from this playful behaviour, which eventually prepares them to hunt small animals like rabbits. When the puppies reach six months of age, they will begin to participate in hunting larger animals alongside the rest of the pack.
Once cubs reach maturity, they can leave the pack in search of a mate. Before this happens, they might engage in highly ritualistic fights to ensure they are indeed ready to leave the pack. Such a wolf will leave and meet up with a mate, hopefully, and together, they will start their own pack.
Serious fights among pack members are not common for obvious reasons. Serious fights can cause injury, and an injured wolf will be of no use to the pack when they go out on a hunt. An injured wolf will also slow the pack down, giving other predators the chance for a kill.
Fights also use up a lot of energy, and because they might go for days without food, that would be counterproductive and dangerous. Fights mostly occur when other wolves or animals enter a pack's territory, and such fights can be fierce.
The belief that there is a dominant alpha dog that rules with an iron fist is untrue for wolves living in the wild.
The breeding pair, however, will have rules in place, pretty much like parents have with their kids, but would simply correct unwanted behaviour without using full aggression. In many cases, the breeding male (dad) will intervene should misunderstandings arise and prevent serious fights from breaking out.
As I mentioned before, serious fights can endanger the whole pack, so they are prevented when possible. But why is it called a wolf pack, then? In the wild (not in captivity), wolves rely on each other for food. They hunt as a family unit (pack) to obtain food. They are predators, unlike our dogs, who rehearse more scavenging (opportunistic) behaviours than wolves. To compare our domesticated dogs today to a wolf in the wild is to compare a housecat with a lion.
If you want to read more about the wolf and all the new findings, Yellowstone Wolves: Science and Discovery in the World's First National Park ©2020, Edited by Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. Stahler, and Daniel R. MacNulty, and The Kootenay Wolves Five Years Following a Wolf Pack by Marriott, John E. are very good resources.
Article by George van Huyssteen (DipCABT, CCAB. CABTi MHERA)
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