VMPRlWFWAR Code: 2.13 No reprints Alpha status, dominance, and division of labor

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Canada; Ellesmere Island; Northwest Territories; Canis lupus; Territoires du Nord-Ouest
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.604.6898; http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/1999/nc_1999_mech_001.pdf

Abstract: The prevailing view of a wolf (Canis lupus) pack is that of a group of individuals ever vying for dominance nl but held in check by the "alpha " pair, the alpha male and alpha female. Most research on the social dynamics of wolf 63 % packs. however, has been conducted on non-natural assortments of captive wolves. Here I describe the wolf-pack social 2 GI-! order as it occurs In nature, discuss the alpha concept and social dominance and submission, and present data on the.! g precise relationships among members in free-living packs, based on a literature review and 13 summers of observations cn of wolves on Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. I conclude that the typical wolf pack is a family, with cn.PI 7 2.?I? the adult parents guiding the activities of the group in a division-of-labor system in which the female predominates.d primarily in such activities as pup care and defense and the male primarily during foraging and food-provisioning and the travels associated with them. RCsumi? : La notion genkralement acceptee d'une meute de Loups gris (Canis lupus) est celle d'un groupe d'individus qui convoitent continuellement la dominance mais qui voient leurs ambitions inhibees par le couple < ( alpha>>, le mile alpha et la femelle alpha. Cependant, la recherche sur la dynamique sociale des loups se fait generalement sur des groupes non naturels de loups en captivite. Je dkcris ici l'ordre social des meutes de loups en nature, j'examine le concept alpha, le concept de dominance sociale et de soumission et je presente des donnees sur 1es relations reelles entre les membres de meutes vivant en liberte d'apres une revision de la litterature et des observations directes de loups pendant 13 Ctes dans l'ile d'Ellesmere, Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Canada. J'ai conclu qu'une meute typique est