Raising aggression levels through ‘performance art’ to increase testosterone in males

Often when I read about animals, I find it difficult to believe that the aggression that is observed (at least in some instances), is truly felt and stems from some deep motivation. For example, I have watched videos of red deer bachelor herds where the males hang out without much tension although some displays, of …

Far-dispersing vs. near-dispersing wolves and the implications for reintroduction

As I have been reading case studies of wolf packs, I have noticed a tendency whereby some packs seem to produce individuals who are more eager to wander for long periods on their own and who cover greater distances during their dispersal. Meanwhile, the majority of the dispersers seem content enough if they can settle …

Umatilla River Pack, NE Oregon – retracing pack’s history

For this reconstruction of Umatilla River Pack’s history, the ODFW Annual Wolf Reports have been used as well as the ODFW webpage dedicated to Umatilla River Pack, specifically. Umatilla River Pack was one of the original founding packs that began the recolonization wave by grey wolves of Oregon. Its history is linked with that of …

Do wolves hunt (mainly) resting or foraging ungulates?

As I have been reading about the predator-prey patterns between wolves and the respective ungulates, I wonder if wolves often kill ungulates during the resting period of the prey. It appears that most observations and studies have focused on encounters/kills in sites where herbivores are foraging rather than resting. Of course, wolves are opportunistic predators …

Yellowstone’s Casanova – interpretation of 302’s story

Recently I finished reading Rick McIntyre's 'The Reign of Wolf 21: The Saga of Yellowstone's Legendary Druid Pack'. I have not yet read the book which is actually dedicated to 302's story but I have read other accounts about the wolf Casanova and I have been told parts of his legend by wolf enthusiasts. As …

Resource partitioning within wolf packs during summer

Resource partitioning within wolf packs during the summer period has already been studied, for example, by Bryan, H.M. et al. (2006) where it was found that adult wolves consumed a greater proportion of adult deer meat compared to their pups who seemed to feed mainly on deer fawns. The findings were explained by the possibly …

The impact of local environment and social interactions on scent-identity in wolves (mate choice, inbreeding)

It is undeniable that wolves, like many other species, rely on scent in order to identify kin, specific individuals, neighbours, unrelated strangers and so on. Scent-recognition might also be a mechanism behind such important strategies as, for example, inbreeding avoidance where the ability to identify kin can prevent mating among two closely related individuals. While …

Snake River Pack, Oregon – following pack’s history (with a slight sidestory of Horseshoe Pack)

For this reconstruction of Snake River Pack's history, the ODFW Annual Wolf Reports have been used as well as the ODFW webpage dedicated to Snake River Pack, specifically. Snake River Pack was one of the original four wolf packs that recolonized NE Oregon following Wenaha (2008) and Imnaha (2008 or 2009) and founding their family …

Could landscape have influenced the evolution of litter size in wolves?

Last week I was both reconstructing the history of Snake River Pack (NE Oregon) and reading a few publications about wolf pup development (van Ballenberghe, V. & Mech, L.D., 1975; Roffler, G.H. et al., 2023). Snake River Pack had a rather constant pup production rate of 3 surviving pups per year (perhaps 4 because there …

Some thoughts on Isle Royale inbreeding and dispersal/neighbour relations

As I have been reading my way through the Isle Royale Wolves & Moose Annual Reports, I began wondering why wolves suffered such high inbreeding rates while moose did not. I encountered some research explaining the genetic mechanisms behind these tendencies in the two species (Kyriazis, C.C. et al., 2023) which I cannot claim I …