articles about wolves
As in the links section, only those that are truthfull about wolves, none that strengthen the stereotypes.

Observations of Behavior on the Grey Wolf Sara Watson Angela Hinton Introduction The gray wolf, also called the timber wolf, is the largest of the wild canids. In the United States they occupy an area including Minnesota, Michigan, Montana, and Alaska. Most recently, they were reintroduced to the wild in Wyoming and Idaho. Gray wolves can also be found in Canada and Europe. They range in size with the largest wolves found farther north. The average adult male weighs between 95 and 120 lbs. and is 5 to 6 feet long, nose to tail. The life span of the wolves is anywhere from 8 to 16 years depending on food availability. They live in packs of 2 to 12 individuals, influenced by the abundance of prey. Hierarchies Wolf packs are based on a leadership hierarchy. The dominant male (alpha male) and dominant female (alpha female) are at the head of this society. They can be identified by their erect posture, with their ears and tails held high. The alpha male and female have definite responsibilities in maintaining order in their pack. The alpha male is usually the only male to breed and it is partly his job to make sure that no other males attempt to breed with the alpha female. He is also the center of activities such as pre-hunting rallies, pack ceremonies, bonding activities, and feeding. The alpha female is also usually the only female to breed. Her most important responsibility is choosing a den site but she also shares the responsibilities of the male. Since she controls mating in the pack, her actions determine the future genetic makeup of the pack. The breeding season can ultimately fail if she chooses a poor den site, in an area of low prey density. During the breeding season all of the pack’s activities are based around the alpha female. A subdominant wolf can be identified in the pack through its body language as well. Subdominant wolves will lower its body, tuck its tail, and pull its ears back when confronting a wolf of higher standing. At the bottom of the hierarchy is the omega wolf. This wolf can be either male or female. This wolf is used as an outlet for aggression for the rest of the wolves, especially the alpha. The alpha wolf will decide if and when other wolves are allowed to eat. The omega wolf usually goes last and must pick over what everyone else has taken. The omega also initiates play. Within the hierarchy, younger individuals are constantly trying to better their status. When a new alpha male takes charge, it occurs very rapidly. The old alpha male is still treated with respect by the other subdominants. It has been suggested that the dominance hierarchies serve to maintain order and conserve energy within the pack by reducing aggression. Basically it prevents a fight each time a wolf contests something. Hunting Wolves prey on a wide variety of animals including deer, elk, moose, bison, rabbits, and beavers. The hunt is led by the alpha male, who is accompanied by all the adults and yearlings. The wolves locate prey by chance encounter, airborne scent, or a fresh scent trail. Once located, the wolves stalk the prey, looking for signs of vulnerability. Their main targets are the old, young or sick. Since wolves prey on the most vulnerable animals, they play an integral part in improving the genetic variability of their prey. In the end, the wolves outrun the prey, drag it down, and tear at it until it is too weak to fend off the pack. A good success rate is considered to be 5-10%. Pair Bonding Breeding, for most wolf packs, begins in February. Pair bonding by the alpha wolves is the first sign of the breeding season. During this time the alpha male and female begin to spend more time together and engage in pair bonding activities. The two wolves will travel together, play frequently, groom each other, and sleep side by side. Joint scent marking is also a sign of pair bonding. When the breeding season begins the alpha wolves become more aggressive toward other members of their pack. The alpha female will attack any other female who shows interest in her mate. The alpha male will also show aggression to other males that approach his female. It also becomes the job of the alpha female to make sure that no other females in her pack mate. If other females come into heat, she forcibly prevents them from mating. If another female somehow does become pregnant, the alpha female may stress out the pregnant female to the point where she will abort her puppies. Normally the alpha female succeeds and is the only female to mate. This is done to ensure that their pack does not get too large or to the point where their resources cannot support their pack size. If the alpha female feels that their territory can support more wolves she will allow another wolf to breed In some cases a subordinate male or female in the pack will have a strong desire to breed. He or she may decide to leave the pack in order to find a mate. The wolf’s solitary scent mark lets other wolves know that it is present. When two wolves pair up they will mark their new territory to claim the area. However, in many cases vacant territories are hard to find and a wolf may have to travel hundreds of miles in search of an area. A lone wolf takes a great risk in traveling alone. It must cross other packs territories and will be vulnerable to predators without it’s pack’s protection; therefore, some times the lone wolf will fail and will be forced to return home to his/her pack. Communal pup rearing Pups are born in the spring. A normal litter is 6 pups, weighing about 1lb each. When more than one litter is born, a combined litter is formed and tended to by all of the mothers. Because pups rely on the mother for warmth, other members of the pack feed the mother. When the pups are ready for solid food, other pack members will feed them. At first some adults feed the pups regurgitated food from their last meal. When the pups are old enough to eat kill, the older adults will carry the meat back to the den and give it to the yearlings. The yearlings will then feed the pups the fresh meat. This is known as "relay feeding". When the adults are hunting, the yearlings will often stay and baby-sit the pups. However, when food is not plentiful, the adults will feed the yearlings before the pups. This, along with disease and accidents is why only 25% of pups usually survive the first year. All of the pack members spend time playing with, or socializing, and caring for the pups. The pups will quickly begin to watch and mimic the activities of the adults. One pup of the litter usually assumes the role of the alpha male and tries to dominate all of the play and fights. The role of alpha is passed around to many of the pups; however, the pups do not actually establish a hierarchy position in the adult pack until they reach breeding age. Training the pups to hunt begins in the late summer. The pups are taken out on a short hunting trip and are allowed to lag behind as the adult hunts the prey. The adult wolves will stop at different places to allow for the pups to sniff out the scent of their prey and learn to establish the scents meaning. When the prey is caught they immediately share the reward with the pups. The adults will later allow the pups to travel on longer hunting trips and will eventually force them to become active, contributing members of the pack. Territories Wolves mark their territory by scent marking. The alpha male and female engage in this regular ritual of marking their boundary with urine or feces. Howling is another method used to let other packs know that an area is inhabited. Howling is also used to locate other wolves, gather individuals to hunt, and to raise alarm (especially at the den site). The most likely time to hear a wolf howl is at night. The most important of these functions is in establishing boundaries. The size of territory the wolves occupy is determined by the availability of prey. If food is plentiful the territory may be smaller. The territories can be limited by the presence of a road. Even a motorcycle path in a park will prevent a pack of wolves from crossing into an area that might have a good supply of food. Human’s Elimination of Wolves From 1872 to 1886 wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions were slaughtered by the thousands all across the United States. Prices were put on the predator’s head and a good hunter could receive up to $200 dollars in one day. Even after laws were made to protect animal species within the National Parks, between 1918 and 1935 government scouts killed 35 mountain lions, 2,968 coyotes, and 114 wolves. Yellowstone Restoration Yellowstone National Park was created by congress in 1872 in order to preserve its "natural curiosities, or wonders" and protect against "wanton destruction" of the area’s fish and game. However, hunting was still a very popular sport during this time and money was to be made for killing large game animals for their pelts. Wolves, lions, elk, coyotes, and other animals continued to be killed until 1914 when Congress began a campaign against destroying wolves, prairie dogs and other animals on public lands. Wolves were nearly exterminated from the park and the species was put on the endangered species list throughout the United States, except for Minnesota where it was listed as threatened. By 1985 the idea of reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone National Park had surfaced. A survey said that 6 out of every 7 visitors to the park supported restoring wolves to Yellowstone. In 1987 Congress asks a survey to be done in order to determine the potential impact on the Yellowstone ecosystem if wolves are introduced. By 1994 the decision was made to restore wolves to the park. A $100,000 rancher compensation fund was set up to repay ranchers for the lost livestock that the wolves would cause. In 1995 three acclimation pens were set up in the park containing radio-collared wolves from Alberta Canada. By January 20, fourteen wolves had arrived and were released into their pens. The wolves were officially released into the park on March 21, 1995. Four and a half years after the release, the number of wolves in Yellowstone Park has now reached over 116. There are 11 packs. At first scientists thought that a second release would be needed three years after the first release; however, wolves have flourished and there will be no need of another release. Experiences at Yellowstone This past summer my family and I spent three weeks out west visiting areas of Yellowstone, Glacier, and Rocky Mountain National Parks. A week and a half of that time we spent at Yellowstone. During that time, on five occasions, were we able to observe a Yellowstone wolf restoration area. We camped near Lamar Valley on the Northeast side of Yellowstone, 11 miles out of Cooke City, Montana. The pack of wolves that lived in that territory was named the Druid Peak pack. They consisted of four females (two black and two gray) and two males (one black and one gray). The pack also had seven pups that had not yet permanently left their den. The first evening we went to watch wolves there were many visitors at the spot. We waited until an hour after dark and no wolves showed. We were told by biologists who were conducting research in the area that the best time to see the wolves was at sunrise and sunset. The next morning we set the alarms on our watches and woke up around 4 a.m. We parked our car at a turn off on the side of the road pointed towards the hill where the wolves had their den hidden. Several biologists were already there. Around 8 a.m. we had fallen asleep but were woken up by the sound of a lone wolf howling. We jumped out of the car and ran to where the biologists were standing looking through their scopes. Up on the hill, a wolf of the Druid Peak pack was lying down, and howling to the sky. We were told that this wolf was the number 163 yearling male. About a half-hour later the alpha female, number 40, appeared and laid down beside him. These two pictures were taken by my brother through a high powered scope, with the help of several wolf observers who came to the park regularly. That was all of the activity that morning and we saw no sign of the wolves that night. The next morning we again set our watches for 4 a.m. but this time decided to sleep through the alarm. Around 8 a.m. we awoke and rushed to the sight. As we arrived, the yearling wolf, number 163, was coming down the hill. He walked directly beside our car and then across the road in front of the car in front of us. Then he proceeded to lay down right in the middle of the road. This behavior concerned many of the scientists that were monitoring the wolves since close contact to humans is considered abnormal behavior. He darted across the road several more times before he disappeared. Both pictures shown on Observation 2 were taken from out the car window. We were in a no stopping wolf restoration zone, but as you can see we did not have much choice in moving our car, with traffic stopped in front of us; so we took that opportunity to take a few pictures. Again, watching that night proved unsuccessful. The next morning we awoke around 7 A.M. and again went to observe the wolves. We parked in the pull off on the side of the road for about an hour until we observed about 8 people climbing a nearby hill. We decided to go after them since the regulars usually knew the about wolves’ general activities. Up on the hill we were able to observe, through a high powered scope, the entire Druid Peak pack wolves hunting bison. These pictures shown on Observation slide 3, shows the valley where the wolves were hunting. We were on the side of one of the hills, seen on the left side of the photo. The wolves and bison were across the creek in the plane on the right side of the photo. The Druid’s pups had only recently emerged from the den and were kept away at the tree line at a safe distance. Meanwhile five of the older wolves picked out a large bison to surround. They would briefly charge the animal and then back off. This went on for about a half an hour. The rest of the bison herd moved on but one lone bison stood there alone surrounded by wolves. At several points we could tell the bison would get tired of the wolves playing games and would quickly charge one wolf. Then the whole pack would back off. The wolf hunt, which took place over about an hour, ended unsuccessfully. Normally wolves cannot take down a bison unless it is very sick or injured. Bison can weight up to 2 tons and are not easily preyed on. We were very lucky to see wolves interact with prey in the wild. Very few visitors ever get the chance to come as close to the wolves to even get a glimpse of them. We just happened to be at the park during the right time. The Druid wolves were had made their den within 0.3 miles of the road and were very active at the time. If you go you must have a high powered scope, unless, like us, you meet a very nice person who will share their view with you. Also the early hour’s that you have to wait takes a lot of patience but if you catch a glimpse of a wolf, the wait is well worth the experience. Captive Wolves If you do not get the chance to visit Yellowstone or if you are not lucky enough to see the wolves in the wild, there are places somewhat close to home that hold captive wolves. In Layfatte, Indiana there is a large wolf park that holds about 24 wolves and a herd of bison for behavioral studies. Over Thanksgiving weekend we visited the park to learn more about the park and the studies it does on wolf behavior. Captive wolves can live in excess of 20 years in captivity. These wolves have been donated by zoos and will never be released into the wild. There are many behaviors that scientists have learned only though captive wolves. These wolves have interacted with humans socially; therefore they do not fear humans. Through these studies we have learned things such as how the alpha wolf prepares her den and how the wolf pack interacts with their pups. At the Wolf park there are also sessions where you can observe wolves hunting bison much the same way we observed in the wild at Yellowstone. Because bison are very good at defending themselves, the wolves at the Wolf park seldom take down the bison. The most exciting thing about visiting the Wolf park is that one can come very close to the wolves. Although they are behind two fences, one can view several wolves battling for positions in their social hierarchy up close. The wolves that are caged together are constantly biting one another on the snout and neck, reinforcing their position, especially when the tours of people came near to their cage. The biologists at the park said that this was due to the fact that the wolves felt some aggression towards the people and their only way to relieve this tension was to take it out on each other. Also it was interesting to observe that when a tour of people began walking by their cage many of the wolves began to howl in chorus. Although biologists do not understand all of the reason that wolves howl, it did seem that the group of people brought some feeling of anxiety to the wolves. Controversy Hopefully this presentation of wolf behavior and of our observations has helped you understand why wolves are so important to our ecosystem and us. Wolf behavior is complicated, very much like the social behavior of humans. Their social hierarchies and continual raising of young through the pack community are two ways they are very similar to us. The controversy over wolves whether wolves will stay mainly lies between animal activists and ranchers. People fear wolves, however the truth is that a wolf has never killed or injured a human. Because wolves threaten the rancher’s livestock and livelihood ranchers did not want the animals reintroduced. Although even the wolf biologists feared that wolves killing livestock would be a problem, so far even they have been pleasantly surprised. Only 8 cattle and 84 sheep were killed between the years of 1995 and 1998, which was far fewer livestock deaths than were predicted. In order to please the ranchers, the government set up a program compensating ranchers for any livestock that may be lost due to wolves. Livestock producers may also kill a wolf caught in the act of killing or wounding livestock on private land. However, the incident must be reported to authorities within 24 hours and there must be evidence that livestock was attacked. The most controversial thing about wolves is fact that they kill. For some reason humans have singled wolves out as bloodthirsty, ruthless killers, even though many organisms must kill to get their food and survive. Cats, the pets we have in many of our homes, often kill mice. Possibly we merely single out wolves because they kill the larger animals, such as deer and cattle, that we find cute, or need for money, rather than other pesky animals that we do not care about. However, we then turn around and often kill the same animals that wolves kill in an even crueler way. At least the wolves go after the less fit animals. They kill out the sick, weak or old, which eliminates the less fit animals leading to a more genetically fit population. They also leave scraps for scavengers, which provides other animals with the necessities to survive. However we kill them all and the fitter our prey the better they are for us! Putting that aside, what matters is that humans are not the center of the universe and we are not here to decide what animals should live and die. We have exterminated many animals from this earth and finally we are doing the right thing and restoring one of the species that we nearly eliminated from our country back to its original home. References: McIntyre, Rick. 1996. A Society of Wolves, National Parks and the Battle over the Wolf. Phillips, Michael., Smith, Douglas. 1996. The Wolves of Yellowstone. Ralph Maugans Wolf Report, Ralph Maugan. 1999. www.poky.sr.net/~jjmrm/ Total Yellowstone Page, John Uhler. 1999. www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/wolf.htm Wolves on the Web, Desert Moon. 1999. www.wolves-on-web.com web site: http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/PPT/Ecology/observations_of_behavior_on_the_.htm