6. The Pack

1. A wolf pack is a type of animal group.
   1. What other types of animal groups are there?
   2. What are the uses of animal groups?
   3. What are the causes of animal groups?
2. Generally, a wolf pack is a hierarchy based around a family.
   1. The basic hierarchical structure of a wolf pack
   2. Male and female hierarchies
   3. Food hierarchy
   4. Possible causes of social bonding
   5. Captive wolf pack observations
   6. Wild wolf pack observations
3. Non-family packs
4. What is the size of a wolf pack?
   1. Typical pack size
   2. Factors affecting pack size
5. Types of pack formation
   1. New pair
   2. Budding
   3. Splitting
   4. Pack reformation
6. Packs sometimes adopt strange wolves
7. Inter- and intrapack genetics
8. Pack demographic studies
   1. Denali National Park
   2. Minnesota
   3. Ellesmere Island
   4. Greenland
9. Captive pack research
10. Why do wolves live in packs?

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Etkins, W. 1964. Types of social organization in birds and mammals. Pages 256-297 In Etkin, W., Editor. Social Behavior and Organization Among Vertebrates. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago.

Harrington, F.H., L.D. Mech, and S.H. Fritts. 1983. Pack size and wolf pup survival: Their relationship under varying ecological conditions. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 13:19-26.

Kennedy, P.K., M.L. Kennedy, P.L. Clarkson, and I.S. Liepins. 1991. Genetic variability in natural populations of the gray wolf, Canis lupus. Canadian Journal of Zoology 69:1183-1188.

Lehman, N., P. Clarkson, L.D. Mech, T.J. Meier, and R.K. Wayne. 1992. A study of the genetic relationships within and among wolf packs using DNA fingerprinting and mitochondrial DNA. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 30:83-94.

Marquard-Petersen, U. 1994. Dens and summer pack size of Arctic wolves in Hold with Hope, East Greenland. Polar Record 30:46-49.

Mech, L.D. 1995. A ten-year history of the demography and productivity of an Arctic wolf pack. Arctic 48:329-332.

Mech, L.D. 1999. Alpha Status, dominance, and division of labor in wolf packs. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1196-1203.

Mech, L.D. and H.H. Hertel. 1983. An eight-year demography of a Minnesota wolf pack. Acta Zoologica Fennica 174:249-250.

Mech, L.D. and M.E. Nelson. 1990. Non-family wolf, Canis lupus, packs. Canadian Field-Naturalist 104:482-483.

Meier, T.J., J. W. Burch, L.D. Mech, and L.G. Adams. 1995. Pack structure and genetic relatedness among wolf packs in a naturally-regulated population. Pages 293-302 In L.N. Carbyn, S.H. Fritts, and D.R. Seip, Editors. Ecology and Conservation of Wolves in a Changing World. Canadian Circumpolar Institute: Edmonton, AB.

Packard, J.M. and L.D. Mech. 1980. Population regulation in wolves. Pages 135-150 In Cohen, M.N., R.S. Malpass, and H.G. Klein, Editors. Biosocial Mechanisms of Population Regulation. Yale University Press: New Haven.

Rabb, G.B., J.H. Woolpy, and B.E. Ginsburg. 1967. Social relationships in a group of captive wolves. American Zoologist 7:305-311.

Schmidt, P.A. and L.D. Mech. Wolf pack size and food acquisition. 1997. American Naturalist 150:513-517.

Schröpfer, R. and A. Rohde. 1997. The integration of a young female in a male pack of European wolves Canis lupus L. Zeitschrift für Saugetierkunde - International Journal of Mammalian Biology 62:209-213.

Schultz, R.N., A.P. Wydeven, and J.M. Stewart. 1999. Acceptance of a gray wolf, Canis lupus, pup by its natal pack after 53 days in captivity. Canadian Field-Naturalist 113:509-511.

Scott, J.P. 1964. The effects of early experience on social behavior and organization. Pages 231-255 In Etkins, W., Editor. Social Behavior and Organization Among Vertebrates. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago.

Thurber, J.M. and R.O. Peterson. 1993. Effects of population density and pack size on the foraging ecology of gray wolves. Journal of Mammalogy 74:879-889.

Woolpy, J.H. 1968. The social organization of wolves. Natural History 77(5):46-55.

Frank, H. (Ed.). 1987. Man and Wolf: Advances, Issues, and Problems in Captive Wolf Research. Dr. W. Junk Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Klinghammer, E. and P.A. Goodmann. 1985. The Management and Socialization of Captive Wolves (Canis lupus) at Wolf Park. Ethology Series, Number 2. North American Wildlife Park Foundation, Inc.: Battle Ground, IN.

Krebs, J.R. and N.B. Davies. 1993. An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology. Blackwell Science Ltd.: Oxford.

Manning, A. and M.S. Dawkins. 1992. An Introduction to Animal Behaviour. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Mech, L.D. 1970. The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species. Natural History Press/Doubleday Publishing Co.: Garden City, NY. (Chapter II - "Wolf Society - Packs and Populations" and Chapter III - "Social Order, Expression, and Communication")

Mech, L.D. 1991. The Way of the Wolf. Voyageur Press, Stillwater, MN. (Chapter - "The Pack")

Mech, L.D. 1997. The Arctic Wolf: Ten Years with the Pack. Voyageur Press, Stillwater, MN.

Mech, L.D., L.G. Adams, T.J. Meier, J.W. Burch, and B.W. Dale. 1998. The Wolves of Denali. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, MN.

Zimen, E. 1981. The Wolf: A Species in Danger. Delacorte Press, New York.

White Wolf. 1988. 60 minutes. National Geographic Society: Washington, DC.

Family of Wolves. 1990. 25 minutes. Capital Cities/ABC Video Publishing, Inc.: Stamford, CT.