WOLVES
THE NORTHWESTERN WOLF (CANIS LUPIS OCCIDENTALIS) - A SUBSPECIES OF THE GRAY WOLF (CANIS LUPIS) INTRODUCED FROM CANDADA AND MONTANA TO YELLOWSTONE IN 1995
LEARNED BEHAVIOURS
Observational learned behaviours are most commonly made by pups. For example, as all wolves within a pack will howl, and it has been observed that alpha wolves can have lower-pitched howl and howl more often, pups will practice howling in a mimic of adult wolves.
An example of conditioning (though unintentional of course) in wolves can be seen perhaps by a study that showed how wolf cubs turning their tales and running for the closest shelter when they hear the sound of an animal screaming, as they have learned to associate the sound of screaming with their mother returning with their meal for them to devour.
An example of operant condition is for example in the interactions within a pack between the subordinate and dominant members. 'Omega' members (those who hold the lowest status, not being either the top alpha's nor the second beta's) constantly behave according to a compelling need to obey and respect the dominant members of the pack. This behaviour is particularly difficult to distinguish as innate or learned as wolves are naturally pack animals and so will always be exposed to the behaviour of other members. Cubs even undergo 'training' to specifically learn the proper way to interact within the pack. For the most part, wolf pack interaction is learned, both observational and operant, as the natural social structure of wolves is a pack, and so exposure and interaction is constant. However, it is a natural and innate response to respect and submit to an elder, and more specifically in this case, a parent. Dominance behaviours:
Wolf packs are made up of the alpha 'pair' (a lead male and female) and their offspring from up to 3 years. This is a recently learned fact about wolf packs to which has been unknown for many decades, with the first wolf ethology studies being observed on captive wolves (unrelated individuals in a pack-like scenario) and a conclusion being drawn that every wolf vies for the position of 'top dog'. Now that we know the true nature of a pack, it can be concluded that much of the 'dominance behaviour' exhibited by the 'alpha pair' is merely the natural behaviour of 'parents' who, across virtually all species, are superior to their offspring. The dynamics of the groups hierarchies then, are primarily a reflection of age, sex and reproductive structure that amounts to dominance. The above information was collected from the following sources: http://www.wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/267alphastatus_english.pdf https://books.google.com.au/books?id=_mXHuSSbiGgC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=learned+and+innate+behavior+of+wolves&source=bl&ots=cPd24wtUg5&sig=tiXm3cJpVizSUzVJDYStoQn6tTI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAGoVChMIpZ7F28iJyAIVwyCmCh0ubwrd#v=onepage&q=learned%20and%20innate%20behavior%20of%20wolves&f=false http://westernwildlife.org/gray-wolf-outreach-project/biology-behavior-4/ |
INNATE BEHAVIOURSRhythmic: Adult wolves consume 5-14 pounds of meat per day on average. Wolves have a "feast or famine" diet. The success rate of their hunts are only 3-14% meaning they can consume up to 20 pounds at once or go for up to 12 days without any food. This makes wolves scavenge-like predators, eating and hunting not only large mammals, but smaller ones and also eating vegetation to avoid starvation. This behaviour is innate and rhythmic because it occurs across the species and are patterns of 'everyday feeding'.
Communication: Wolves use body language and physical behaviours to communicate with one another. As wolves are naturally pack animals, and lone wolves aren't the norm or preferred way of living, communication is essential to the harmony and success of the pack, it is essential to survival.
Wolves also use their tails to communicate. Wolves expressing threatening signs hold their tails high, almost perpendicular, while submissive wolves lower themselves before dominant pack members, tails tucked between their legs. Wolves also communicate via their scent. This is used for communicating territorial boundaries, food ownership and is helpful for pack orientation. Scent is commonly marked using urination. Wolves will howl to communicate their location is the pack is spread out, to warn off other packs or predators, to identify other wolves, to claim territory, and the alpha will normally howl to assemble the pack. As howling is a form of communication and a way of displaying across a large distance the size of a pack, lone wolves do not howl often as they wish to keep their presence relatively unknown to other packs. Reproductive: It is the norm for wolf packs to have only one litter of pups per year as the alpha male and female are the only ones to mate. Sexual maturity is reached at 2-3 years and most at this time will leave in search of another pack or to make their own. Wolves are believed to mate for life.
Competitive: Wolves work together to bring down prey and are scavengers. Due to the unreliability of their diet and environment, they will compete with other predators for food, particularly their own kills, however they know their limits and will back down to stronger, larger predators. This competition is also seen within packs as the alpha male is first to eat and often kill, however this is more attributable to dominance rather than innate competitive nature, which is due to their precarious survival.
Dominance: Wolves can display dominate behavior by baring teeth and pointing erect ears forward. Subordinate behaviour is displayed by closed mouths, slit-like eyes, and ears pulled back and held close to the head. These behaviours are innate, however the reasons for the behaviour and whether or not dominance is innate or not is more complex. Refer to the dominance paragraph for a more detailed analysis.
Non-alpha pack members frequently display behaviour of submission, such as pushing their noses upward to a leader in greeting, giving up food or property to a higher member and rolling over to expose their belly under a dominant wolf, in order to appropriately interact with and remain within the pack. This behaviour is both innate, as it is part of the natural lifestyle of packs across all wolves, and a learned behaviour to avoid punishment or pack rejection. It can be classified as innate because all wolves and related species operate in a hierarchal fashion. Territoriality: Wolf pack territories are usually from 200 to 500 square miles, but can vary immensely depending on prey availability, pack size, presence of neighbouring packs and human-use. Wolves will aggressively defend their territory from other wolf packs.
Other: Wolves have an ever-present desire to 'mouse-pounce', involving the chasing and capturing of small animals, a natural predator behaviour. This behaviour is an innate one as it has been seen to occur in cubs without pre-exposed practice (hand-reared).
The above information was collected from these sources: http://westernwildlife.org/gray-wolf-outreach-project/biology-behavior-4/ https://books.google.com.au/books?id=_mXHuSSbiGgC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=learned+and+innate+behavior+of+wolves&source=bl&ots=cPd24wtUg5&sig=tiXm3cJpVizSUzVJDYStoQn6tTI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAGoVChMIpZ7F28iJyAIVwyCmCh0ubwrd#v=onepage&q=learned%20behavior%20&f=false |