What Is a Wolfpack Mentality?

By: Cristen Conger & Mark Mancini  | 
wolfpack
The wolf pack mentality — one for all and all for one? picture alliance/Getty Images

You can find all sorts of high school and college athletic programs named after wolves. And why not? In a mascot battle, North Carolina State University's Mr. Wuf would surely vanquish Sammy the Slug of University of California-Santa Cruz.

Grey wolves (Canis lupus) tend to organize themselves into social groups known as "packs," with individual animals both living and hunting together. This behavior gives lupine sports franchises an irresistible metaphor for teamwork.

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But in nature, wolf packs operate very differently than most people think. One of the biggest misconceptions involves their power structures.

The "Alpha Wolf" Idea

"Alpha wolf" is a term that gets tossed around a lot in popular culture. The concept as we know it today can be traced back to a 1947 study written by animal behaviorist Rudolph Schenkel [source: International Wolf Center].

According to this idea, wolf packs are led by an "alpha male" and an "alpha female." These top dogs rule the roost by fighting the other wolves for dominance until they've clawed their way up the pecking order.

"By continuously controlling and suppressing all types of competition within the same sex," wrote Schenkel, "both 'alpha animals' defend their social position." [sources: Kjørstad, Davis].

Alpha wolves are said to outrank "beta wolves," who look down on submissive "omega wolves" in turn. All very hierarchical.

This belief — that every wolf pack is a dog-eat-dog environment where some members are constantly vying to climb the ranks by aggressive means — has been repeated in countless wildlife documentaries and nonfiction books over the past 70-odd years. We even repeated that idea here at HowStuffWorks when we first published this article on July 28, 2008.

It's also misleading [source: International Wolf Center].

Schenkel's 1947 paper was describing two wolf packs in captivity. His study specimens were unrelated animals who'd been brought together at a Swiss zoo, where they shared an enclosure measuring 2,153 square feet (200 square meters) [sources: Mech and Boitani].

However, Schenkel didn't look at any wild wolves at the time.

Unlike their counterparts at this particular zoo, natural wolf packs mainly consist of genetic relatives. They also take up way more space, patrolling territories of 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers) or larger [source: International Wolf Center].

Because they don't live under the artificial constraints Schenkel observed, wild wolves (usually) organize themselves in a way that's less competitive.

Noted wolf researcher David Mech had this to say in a 2008 YouTube presentation:

The term 'alpha' isn't really accurate when describing most of the leaders of wolf packs. Because it implies—the term implies—that the wolves fought and competed strongly to get to the top of the pack. In actuality, the way they get there is by mating with a member of the opposite sex, producing a bunch of offspring which are the rest of the pack, then, and becoming the natural leaders that way. Just like with a pair of humans producing a family.

Don't get us wrong: The 'alpha wolf' hierarchy system isn't a complete myth. Again, captive wolf packs (like Schenkel's) have been known to adopt this kind of pecking order.

But outside zoos and other artificial environments, the stereotypical "alpha-beta-omega" social structure is incredibly rare — if it can be said to exist at all [source: "Alpha" Wolf?].

Instead, what we usually see is a howling nuclear family.

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The Lupine Nuclear Family

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The idea that every wolf pack is a dog-eat-dog environment where some members are constantly vying to climb the ranks by aggressive means is somewhat outdated and misleading. picture alliance/Getty Images

Your typical wild wolf pack is made up of two breeding adults and their progeny. New pups are born during the spring, in litters usually consisting of four to six babies weighing about 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) each. Oftentimes, the little tykes receive care from both parents—as well as their older siblings [sources: International Wolf Center, Mech and Boitani].

According to the book "Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation," most youngsters leave their original pack "between the ages of 9 and 36 months." So it's not uncommon to find parents and tiny infants living together with adolescent wolves born in previous years [source: Mech and Boitani].

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After moving out, young adults try to find mates and establish their own packs, beginning the cycle anew.

Besides the parents and kids, "other unrelated wolves may sometimes join [a] pack," according to the International Wolf Center.

Packs may also include multiple breeding pairs, although that's a departure from the norm [source: National Park Service].

The biggest packs aren't necessarily the most successful. Having extra mouths to feed can be a real detriment when your prey is scarce [source: International Wolf Center].

Then again, at Yellowstone National Park, packs of nine or more wolves are the most likely to succeed when they go bison-hunting. Elk, by comparison, are much easier to kill, with packs containing two to six wolves regularly taking them down [source: MacNulty et al.].

Small game is on the menu, too. Individual wolves may lie in wait for up to 30 straight hours to attack beavers, which have lousy eyesight and are vulnerable to attacks from predators standing downwind [source: University of Minnesota].

Wolves Scent Mark Their Terrain

Wolves are territorial creatures. Depending on the region, a single pack's terrain may range in size from under 100 square miles (259 square kilometers) to more than 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers). Crossing into another group's domain can open the door for confrontation [sources: International Wolf Center, Mech and Boitani].

How can wolves tell where their land begins and ends? Sometimes, the nose knows.

Wolves scent mark by spreading urine and feces on targets above the ground, such as a tree stump. This tells intruders that they're approaching boundaries and provides the wolves with olfactory sign posts. Howling can also be used to signal rival packs, hopefully keeping them at bay [sources: International Wolf Center, Cassidy et al.].

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More Great Links

  • "'Alpha' Wolf?" YouTube. Uploaded by eduweb, Feb. 15, 2008. (July 29, 2021). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtFgdwTsbU&t=5s
  • "Alpha Wolf: What Does It Mean, And Should It Still Be Used?" International Wolf Center. (July 29, 2021). https://wolf.org/headlines/44265/
  • Busch, Robert A. "The Wolf Almanac: A Celebration of Wolves and Their World." Globe Pequot, 2007. (July 14, 2008). http://books.google.com/books?id=iUVJsGY9Q-8C
  • Cassidy et al, 2016. "YS 24-1 Territoriality and Inter-Pack Aggression in Gray Wolves Shaping a Social Carnivore's Life History." Yellowstone Science: Celebrating 20 Years of Wolves. June, 2016. (Aug. 1, 2021). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313090514_Territoriality_and_inter-pack_aggression_in_gray_wolves_shaping_a_social_carnivore%27s_life_history
  • Davis, Lauren. "Why Everything You Know About Wolf Packs Is Wrong." Gizmodo. May 12, 2013. (July 29, 2021). https://gizmodo.com/why-everything-you-know-about-wolf-packs-is-wrong-502754629
  • "Gray Wolf." National Park Service. (Aug. 1, 2021). https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolves.htm
  • "How Animals Do That." Discovery Channel. Oct. 2, 1999.
  • "How Do Wolves Say Hello?" International Wolf Center. (Aug. 1, 2021). https://wolf.org/wolf-info/basic-wolf-info/biology-and-behavior/communication/
  • Kjørstad, Elsie. "Wolf Packs Don't Actually Have Alpha Males and Alpha Females, The Idea is Based on a Misunderstanding." Science Norway. April 26, 2021. (July 29, 2021). https://sciencenorway.no/ulv/wolf-packs-dont-actually-have-alpha-males-and-alpha-females-the-idea-is-based-on-a-misunderstanding/1850514
  • Lopez, Barry Holstun and Bauguess, John. "Of Wolves and Men." Simon and Schuster. 2004. (July 14, 2008). https://books.google.com/books?id=-3FTLxW09K0C&hl=en
  • MacNulty et al, 2014. "Influence of Group Size on the Success of Wolves Hunting Bison." PLoS One. 2014. (Aug. 1, 2021). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4229308/
  • Mech, David L. and Boitani, Luigi, editors. "Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation." University of Chicago Press. 2003. (July 16, 2008). http://books.google.com/books?id=_mXHuSSbiGgC
  • "Researchers Uncover Hidden Hunting Tactics of Wolves in Minnesota's North Woods." University of Minnesota. Feb. 8, 2021. (Aug. 1, 2021). https://twin-cities.umn.edu/news-events/researchers-uncover-hidden-hunting-tactics-wolves-minnesotas-northwoods
  • Whitt, Chris. "Wolves: Life in the Pack." Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. 2003. (July 16, 2008). http://books.google.com/books?id=x4DLA4TE_rAC
  • Wilson, Don E. and Ruff, Susan. "The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals." UBC Press. 2003. (July 16, 2008). ● http://books.google.com/books?id=qNFgzIPGuSUC
  • "Wolf FAQs and Answers." International Wolf Center. (Aug. 1, 2021). https://wolf.org/wolf-info/basic-wolf-info/wolf-faqs/#toggle-id-6
  • "Wolf Packs = Wolf Families." International Wolf Center. (Aug. 1, 2021). https://wolf.org/wolf-info/wild-kids/wolf-families/

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