What happens to a pack when the alpha male or female is killed?
In the Yellowstone wolf study, which is a study of a population that is not hunted or trapped, the death of one or both members of the alpha pair usually resulted in another adult wolf coming in to replace the one that died. Sometimes it led to dissolution of the pack. Packs sometimes adopt unrelated dispersing wolves that could also become alpha members of the pack. When packs dissolved after the death of an alpha animal, new packs formed in those areas. 15) How does a non-breeding wolf attain breeding status? A wolf can stay with the pack into which it was born and bide its time until it works its way up the dominance hierarchy or it can disperse. A dispersing wolf leaves the pack to find a mate and a vacant area in which to start its own pack. Both strategies involve risk. A wolf that bides its time may be out-competed by another wolf and never achieve dominance. Dispersers must hunt on their own until they form or join a new pack, and they may be killed when they invade the territo
