Wolf, Canis lupus, Pup Mortality: Interspecific Predation or Non-Parental Infanticide?

• Published in: The Canadian Field-Naturalist
• Main Authors: Latham, A. David M., Boutin, Stan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club 2011
• Subjects: Gray Wolf; Canis lupus; interspecific predation; non-parental infanticide; resource competition hypothesis; Alberta; gray wolf
• Online Access: https://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/1199; https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v125i2.1199

A breeding male Gray Wolf, Canis lupus, equipped with a GPS collar was documented going to the den site of another Gray Wolf pack. This trip was coincident with an attack on the den of the other pack and the occurrence of a dead and partially consumed Gray Wolf pup at the same location. We present two possible explanations - interspecific predation and non-parental infanticide - to account for this observation. Because the Gray Wolf with the GPS collar and his mate were first-time breeders and were attempting to establish a territory space of their own, we speculate that, based on the available evidence, this observation most likely represents a case of non-parental infanticide that fits the predictions of the resource competition hypothesis.