In the late 1980s and 1990s Mech observed a pack every year at Ellesmere Island in northeastern Canada. In contrast, wild wolf packs are usually made up of a breeding male, a breeding female and their offspring from the past two or three years that have not yet set out on their own-perhaps six to 10 individuals. ![]() In these cases, a dominance hierarchy arises, Mech adds, but it’s the animal equivalent of what might happen in a human prison, not the way wolves behave when they are left to their own devices. When keeping wolves in captivity, humans typically throw together adult animals with no shared kinship. This terminology arose from research done on captive wolf packs in the mid-20th century-but captive packs are nothing like wild ones, Mech says. But now they are decades out of date, he says. Mech, like many wildlife biologists, once used terms such as alpha and beta to describe the pecking order in wolf packs. Related: “Mind Control” Parasite Makes Wolves Effective Pack Leaders And that’s exactly the way it is with wolves.” Geological Survey, who has studied wolf packs in the wild for decades. David Mech, a senior research scientist at the U.S. “What would be the value of calling a human father the alpha male?” says L. The idea that wolf packs are led by a merciless dictator is pervasive, lending itself to a shorthand for a kind of dominant masculinity.īut it turns out that this is a myth, and in recent years wildlife biologists have largely dropped the term “alpha.” In the wild, researchers have found that most wolf packs are simply families, led by a breeding pair, and bloody duels for supremacy are rare. If you’ve ever heard the term “alpha wolf,” you might imagine snapping fangs and fights to the death for dominance.
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