Most of us first learn about wolves from fairytales and fables where they are generally vilified and portrayed as the "big bad wolf". But the truth couldn't be any further than that, I can assure you. Being a huge wolf enthusiast myself, I did quite some research on them and I think the results are remarkably interesting. Turns out that there are so many similarities between humans and wolves and just as many things that we can learn from them. There are also some false concepts that we know as "facts" about wolves. So without further ado, let's dive into the fascinating world of wolves!
Wolves are social creatures Although we come across wolves being portrayed as solitary animals in many stories, they are actually very social! They live in packs which most of the time consist of the mother wolf, the father wolf, the cubs and occasionally other relatives. The wolf cubs play with each other and their parents all the time. And they are even taught obedience by their parents, just like humans! Occasionally, these majestic animals even have family reunions with the other related wolves! These related wolves, such as uncles and aunts, also take part in raising the cubs every now and then. Another remarkable thing wolves do is they take care of their injured ones and they look for other wolves when they are lost!
The "alpha, beta, sigma, omega" ranking is wrong All of us have heard of the terms "alpha wolf" or "sigma wolf" or the like, haven't we? For years many works of fiction, mostly including werewolves, have been created based on this ranking system that we thought we knew belonged to wolves. Well, sorry to disappoint you but turns out this concept of ranking is wrong. Let's delve deeper into this topic: In 1947, animal behaviorist Rudolph Schenkel published his work "Expressions Studies on Wolves" which introduced to us the said popular ranking system. Although Schenkel's studies were based on observations of wolves, the circumstances in which the observations were made were wrong. Schenkel had observed wolves in captivity, not in their natural habitat. Another factor in this misleading result was that the wolves were unrelated to each other. So, the wolves competed for dominance, and thus was the ranking concept born. And with L. David Mech publishing his work ("The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species") in 1970 which supported Schenkel's findings, this concept gained the popularity it has today. But later in 1999, Mech published another work ("Alpha Status, Dominance and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs") which was a disproof of the ranking system he had previously supported. So, what was the truth? Well, Mech found out, after observing wolves in the wild, that these animals actually live in families. The wolves in a pack are all related and the only kind of dominance that can be found in the pack is the dominance of the parents over their cubs, just like in human families. So no "alpha, beta, sigma, omega"!
Wolves communicate and cooperate Wolves have a very effective way of communicating. Be it howling, growling, whimpering, using body language, or marking; these animals can communicate many things. But one of the cases where their effective communication comes in the most handy would be when they are cooperating during hunting, I imagine. Yes, wolves act together and cooperate during hunting! This is also a major sign of intelligence in animals.
Wolves mate for life There are many examples of animals having multiple mates in the wild. It is a common thing. But wolves, yet again much like humans, tend to mate for life! And they even mourn the loss of their mates when they are dead.
Wolves do not kill for sport This information was given as a similarity between humans and wolves where I read it but unfortunately, I would say it is a difference. We all know many people kill other living beings when there is absolutely no need, for hunting or other reasons. So the fact that wolves do not kill others for sport, that they only do it when it is necessary is I think a superior trait that they have compared to us.
Wolves might have morals Years ago, the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness was signed by a group of scientists. These scientists declared that many animals, including wolves, have awareness like humans. They are conscious of their actions and they act with intention. It is noted that consciousness, awareness, and intention are keystones of morality. So from this, we can infer that wolves probably have morals.
Wolves have great emotional intelligence Wolves show great signs of emotional intelligence! First of all, their strong family bonds are a notable, example. But it doesn't end there. Wolves mourn their lost ones! Evolutionary biologist Marc Bekoff wrote in his book "The Emotional Lives of Animals" that a pack of wolves showed signs of grief after losing a female wolf. Their playfulness was gone and they no longer howled together. When a wolf howled, it was slower than usual, as if mourning. Furthermore, their body language changed as well. When they were where their pack mate had been killed, they held their heads and tails low just like in a funeral. In addition to these examples, scientists have observed many signs of compassion, altruism, forgiveness, trust and empathy in animals such as wolves.
Wolves contribute to the population control in their environment It is no surprise that nature has its own balance and every animal's existence has a key role in that balance. Wolves are no exception. One great example of that is what has been happening in Yellowstone National Park recently. In the 1930s, all the wolves in the park had been killed. This resulted in the overpopulation of elk in the area. Although other predators still hunted them, the disappearance of wolves decreased the pressure on the elk and their numbers increased dramatically. This affected the vegetation and the beaver population in the area negatively. In the end, there was only one beaver left in the whole park. But in 1995, grey wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone. Nowadays, with the wolves back, the elk population has decreased and the beaver population has increased again. There are nine beaver colonies now. And the vegetation has flourished once again.
And that's it on these awesome creatures! Wolves are a great example of how complex animals can be and they show us there are many things we can learn from animals. Who knows what else we'll discover about the interesting world of animals in the future?
References:
UExpress - "The Animal Doctor" by Dr. Michael W. Fox: https://www.uexpress.com/pets/animal-doctor/2023/02/05
LinkedIn - "How Wolves and Humans Are Alike" by Rick Lamplugh: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-wolves-humans-alike-rick-lamplugh-2
America Magazine - "Humans and wolves: Are we more alike than we think?" by Antonio De Loera-Brust: https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2018/01/09/humans-and-wolves-are-we-more-alike-we-think
Treehugger - "What Can Wolf Packs Teach Us About Being Better Humans?" by Starre Vartan: https://www.treehugger.com/what-can-wolf-packs-teach-us-about-being-better-humans-4868052
LOBOS OF THE SOUTHWEST - "Blog: Why Everything You Know About Wolf Packs Is Wrong" by Lauren Davis: https://mexicanwolves.org/blog-why-everything-you-know-about-wolf-packs-is-wrong/
Yellowstone National Park Trips - "Wolf Reintroduction Changes Ecosystem in Yellowstone" by Brodie Farquhar: https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wildlife/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/