WolfQuest

Alright, so this is probably a controversial topic (in regards to the hunting) but I'm more interested in the rumored "400 strong wolf pack" part. You may read the article here, but please be sure your posts are polite and are stated in a delicate manner - this is primarily to discuss the rumor and not the hunt. If this topic does turn quite controversial, I will not hesitate to lock it.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaki ... 5991671694

Your thoughts? I don't believe a pack of such numbers would be possible, would it? Considering that typically the dominant animal in the pack would attempt to prevent the other females from going into heat, would they just rather disperse instead?

I think its all down to a misunderstanding. Perhaps there are 400 wolves in the area. Doesnt necessarily mean they form one large pack.

Russia has an enormous wolf population, so 400 in one area doesnt sound all that far-fetched.

It's probably a misunderstanding more than anything like you stated, and even though Russia does have a hefty sum of wolves it would be very odd for a "four hundred wolf pack" to form. Though yes, it would make sense due to Russia's large wolf population for there to be a concentrated amount of wolves in an area, and then people assuming that the population in the area was all one pack.

FYI, there's a topic on this same thing already...but it got locked to due some arguing between our members: http://www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=46066

So if this topic turns into another fight festival, we'll have to lock it as well.


Now the, I agree with what you guys have already said--it's probably not a pack of 400 wolves, rather a population of wolves that live in close proximity. I'm actually highly skeptical about the number 400, though. Who went out there and counted those wolves?

As far as I know, tales coming from Russia hold very little scientific merit...the country is so spacious and sparsely-populated that any rumors that drift into existence might be widely held as true by the people there. There's so little actual scientific investigation that the people are highly susceptible to creating and falling for rumors.

Canidae wrote: As far as I know, tales coming from Russia hold very little scientific merit...the country is so spacious and sparsely-populated that any rumors that drift into existence might be widely held as true by the people there. There's so little actual scientific investigation that the people are highly susceptible to creating and falling for rumors.

I wouldnt be that harsh on them.

Take this passage from Mammals of the Soviet Union for example:

By the cold time of year, the yearlings join the adults with this
year's young. Thus a "pack" of wolves is formed, representing, in fact,
a family group consisting of the parents, juveniles (this year's litter)
and yearlings which have not yet reached sexual maturity. It more
rarely happens that older animals, usually males 3-5-year old, which
have been left alone for one or other reason, join such a "pack".
Strange animals, bom to other parents, are not admitted into the pack
and are regarded as enemies.

Sounds like an awfully modern description of wolf packs as family groups rather than complex "alpha male" heirarchies. And yet, this book was first published in the late 1960s, before David Mech coined the whole "alpha" terminology. Its a shame that back then, the Iron Curtain prevented much flow of information among wolf biologists. Had Mech and Heptner (author of MOTSV) collaborated, we would have probably never heard of an "alpha male" wolf.

I really don't think the wolf pack they're hunting is of that high magnitude... 400 is just too a massive number, even if we're talking about the Siberian backwoods. This rumor makes me really skeptical, it just does not seem plausible. They may be hunting a large pack but I definitely believe that it's not a 400-strong pack.

Oh, sorry Koa, I did not see this topic when I searched for it! I would delete mine but I cant ^^

That sounds so absurd, that I think there is nothing to discuss.

Yea, maybe it was multiple packs and not one big pack of 400! How would that be under control? I dont really know too much about this but my friend and co worker (In church, we go to different places to help people, like a youth group) went to Russia for something and he said when he talked to others living there, they said that there was really a pack od 200-400 wolves in the aera. I also think a part of why there have not been more deaths from people is the surrounding areas were evacuated (at least that is what it says on this one page).

I just this this is a bunch of sausage because that cant be real, not even for a mega pack...

oxoDestinyoxo wrote:With Russia, it's believable that there can be many wolves in one area. But 400? Don't you think that if their were 400 wolves in one area the number of horses slaughtered would be way higher? Sure, a horse would fight back, and their kicks are just as lethal as an elks', a foal kicking me in the gut was enough to send me crumpling to the ground in pain, imagine what a full grown horse could do to a wolf.

But 30 horses is too little for 400 suspected wolves. I highly doubt there were even many packs of 20, most of the wolves would have dispersed, wouldn't they? Russia is just so big, I find it so hard to imagine a pack with more than 10 wolves in it.

I agree with Destiny. It's a somewhat far-fetched theory in my opinion, since as previously said prey numbers would go down considerably and these wolves would most likely fight if not disperse early. That also resumes the thought that the rumor was simply an honest mistake and was truly a large number of wolves or wolf packs nearby and not an actual pack of 400 wolves -- though I suppose you never know.


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