Mech published "The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species," currently still in print. He has plead with his publisher to stop publishing ... to no avail - his current research states most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating and producing pups, which then became their pack.
He prefers the notion "breeding pair" to describe the pack leader, and to get rid of the word Alpha.
He says "One of the outdated pieces of information is the concept of the alpha wolf. "Alpha" implies competing with others and becoming top dog by winning a contest or battle. However, most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating and producing pups, which then became their pack. "
Outmoded notion of the alpha wolf and Mech's original research.
A more recent article in www.wolf.org is called "Whatever happened to the term alpha wolf."
 alphawolf.pdf | 655 Kb |
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