Pack dynamics and members

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Pack dynamics and members

Post by psy » Sun Apr 23, 2023 2:18 pm

I had a few questions regarding the ins-and-outs of a pack's familial dynamics. I'm thinking of writing a wolf-based story soon but wanted to keep realism in mind with its events.

1. If one of the dominant pair in the pack dies, would the mate take on a new partner (maybe someone from outside of the pack) or would they be inclined to leave the pack, especially if the dominant pair is quite old?

2. How common is it for non-immediate family members to join packs with their relatives? By this I mean the plausibility of an aunt/uncle/cousin/nephew/etc joining their relative's pack for one reason or another. In the specific scenario I'm thinking of, the wolves would have known each other beforehand, set off to form their own packs, but returned to their relative's pack.

3. Are "raids" common between packs? By "raids" I mean less in the unrealistic, "just because" way and more in the manner of territorial disputes - a pack wants to expand its territory into another for, say, access to a food supply that is in the other pack's lands and similar reasons. The attacking pack would seek to drive out the other pack, either entirely or from a section of territory that the other pack desires.

4. Rather than dispersing from the family pack, could a young wolf bring a mate into its natal pack or is this a more uncommon occurrence? I have read that there are some instances in which wolves do not disperse from their family units, but I am not sure how plausible it is.

5. In the event of the breeding pair of the pack dying/both disappearing in some way, who would take control of the pack? Would one of the other members be able to step up, take on a mate, and continue leading the pack, or would it disperse entirely?

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Re: Pack dynamics and members

Post by Sasseraph » Mon Apr 24, 2023 12:14 pm

Hello, I recall "Yellowstone Wolves" by Douglas Smith & Daniel Stahler from 2020 has a lot of useful information for you, however a good bit is also already answered in the FAQ and discord WQ Q&A.


1. It's worth noting that some packs include unrelated individuals, and that plural breeding has been observed in~25% of packs in Yellowstone, usually in the form of polygyny with the dominant male (49).
  • "These mating-pair associations can last a lifetime, but wolves are quick to take on a new mate following the death of their previous one, sometimes within days" (49).
  • "Although inbreeding was once thought to be common (Gese and Mech 1991), if wolves have a choice, they outbreed. This preference may limit, or force, dispersal options. If a breeding wolf dies, the next wolf in line to breed may be the opposite-sex offspring of the remaining breeder, which may cause the parent to disperse" (85).

2.
  • "In most wolf populations, new packs typically start from the pairing of a solitary female and male. In Yellowstone, packs more commonly start from groups of individuals that leave their natal packs and find other wolves" (43).
  • "Of the 36 pack formations documented, only 5 (14%) involved the classic pairing of a single male with a single female (Bechler, Hayden, Leopold, Thorofare, Wapiti). Thirty (83%) packs formed from group dispersal or, more rarely, pack splitting" (43).
  • "Most new pack formations in Yellowstone occurred when same-sex siblings, or sometimes same-sex parent-offspring groups, joined with unrelated individuals or groups that had dispersed from other packs. The tendency for packs in Yellowstone to form mainly via group dispersal contrasts with the conventional solitary male-female pack formation process described for most other wolf populations" (45).
  • "Commonly in Yellowstone, wolves disperse in groups of various sizes, usually made up of same-sex siblings, and join up with unrelated wolves. This type of dispersal can lead to instantly large packs. It has occurred most commonly on the northern range, probably because packs starting at two wolves would be at a competitive disadvantage given the very high wolf density there. We have seen several packs start as a pair, only to disappear" (89).

3. The book mainly phrases territoriality in terms of trying to create space between packs and the resources they are using/defending (63-64). There is nothing that frames the encounters or altercations as something premeditated or motivated beyond decreasing competition (such as attacks on dens). It notes the hesitation or even flat-out refusal to trespass, but if you take a look at some territory maps you can also see that their movement tends to overlap, especially in the northern packs with higher density.
  • "During his work in Minnesota, beginning in 1964, L. David Mech noted that packs often avoided dangerous encounters with other packs: 'The Birch Lake pack once chased a mortally wounded deer within the buffer area shared with the Harris Lake pack. . . . The deer lay dead only about fifty feet from where the pack turned back—a powerful testimony to the trespassing pack’s aversion to their neighbors' (Mech 2000a, 67). Mech also found that avoidance did not always work, and that 'strife between packs is the most frequent cause of death for adult wolves in the wild' (Mech 2000a, 67)" (62).
  • "If scent marks and howling do not work to keep packs separated, or if one or both packs engage the rival, the result is often aggression" (66).
  • "The Wolf Project has recorded eight attacks on den sites, most of which involved early denning wolves attacked by a pack that had not yet denned or had no pregnant females" (69).
  • "Attacking a den is an effective way for one pack to drastically reduce the fighting power of another pack, especially if the entire litter of pups is killed. It is also a fairly low risk for the attackers, since pups are small and helpless and usually only a few attending adults are present" (69).
  • "If a pack can regularly defeat its opponents and successfully protect itself from neighbors and strangers, it can reduce each pack member’s risk of mortality from intraspecific strife. Such risk reduction probably lends itself to greater pack longevity, more successful reproduction and recruitment, and better access to prey and safe pup-rearing space" (73).
  • "Territoriality is a dynamic aspect of gray wolf life history affected by wolf density and the presence, abundance, and seasonal movements of prey species. Pack size and composition greatly influence engagement and success during conflicts [...] being too aggressive might lead to death or injury, being too passive risks ending up on the losing end of any competition" (75).

4. There is no mention of separate pairs of mates in a single pack, and discussion of plural breeding is limited to observations of dominant male polygyny, unspecified polyandry, and polygynandry, but nothing noting multiple distinct monogamous pairs within a single pack (49).
  • "Females are more likely to become breeders through natal philopatry, either by inheriting a dominant breeding position from a female relative or by becoming a subordinate breeder. This pattern results in packs being largely matrilineal with respect to genetic lineages. Males, on the other hand, typically obtain breeding positions through dispersal, either by filling a vacant breeding position (or killing the dominant male) in another pack or through temporary affiliations with females from other packs" (52)
  • "Plural breeding has been most common in multi-male, multi-female packs composed of unrelated, opposite-sex adults.[...] In packs where a dominant male and female breeder were parents or full siblings to the other same-sex pack members, subordinate breeding occurred only through pairings outside the pack" (52).
  • "Most, but not all, wolves do leave home (Gese and Mech 1991) [...] Delaying dispersal may be beneficial, as appears to have been the case for many years in Yellowstone when dispersal has been low. Some Yellowstone individuals, predominantly females, never leave the pack they were born into" (85).

5. In the case it's not a large pack like described above:
Blightwolf wrote:
Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:35 pm
What is the fate of a "fractured pack"?
If the breeding pair is lost, the remaining members may disperse and become part of the "floating" population, unless they are pups which would die from starvation or from predators.
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