The process of a wolf pack splitting in Biaowie¿a Primeval Forest, Poland

• Main Authors: Krzysztof Schmidt, Jörn Theuerkauf, Rafa Kowalczyk, Karol Zub
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Key-words; Canis lupus; home ranges; pack size; pack splitting; prey size
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.603.990; http://www.zbs.bialowieza.pl/g2/pdf/1420.pdf

8-year-old alpha female ceased breeding. The two sister-packs subdivided their original territory, but their ranges overlapped extensively (49%) for one year after the split, except for May–June, when both new packs reared pups. We propose that food related factors could have been the ultimate cause of splitting of a large pack. In European temperate forests, pack size of 5–6 wolves is optimal for the consumption of the red deer Cervus elaphus.