The vast majority of wolf packs, in our country, are made up of between 3 and 10 individuals. It's important to know that wolf numbers vary according to the season. In fact, between May and October, the pack educates its cubs, which logically increases the number of individuals and the need for manpower to help with hunting, feeding and education. It's not uncommon to see between 4 and 12 individuals in the pack at this time, although the cubs don't move around until the end of September, and don't take part in any pack activities.
Between November and April, we then enter a period when the numbers will undergo changes, with the possible departure of certain members, cubs from recent litters, yearlings and subadults from previous years. It should also be said that, during these winter months, the reproduction period brings with it certain conflicts and tensions, between hormones, different personalities and the resulting aggression. We explained this in an article in May 2023. At this time of year, numbers drop and are more often between 3 and 7 members. These are always averages, and many factors can affect them, including mortality (regulation, poaching, traffic accidents, natural death, etc.).
Subadults can either choose to leave or be chased away by the breeding pair, particularly when conflicts break out and the youngster is pretty "rebellious", and no longer respecting the pack's codes and rules. This departure is an adventure in itself which, unfortunately, frequently leads to death, since some 60 to 80% of young wolves die between the ages of 1 and 3. The main cause is traffic accidents, but poaching (and now regulation) is also on the podium of the main death reasons.
Nature dictates that sub-adults should disperse to ensure the survival of the species over a wide range. But what opportunities does a young wolf have to reproduce and have his own pack ? Contrary to popular belief, there isn't just one...:
1. The best-known is dispersal, when the wolf leaves his pack, covering hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, to find a free territory. He may also be taken in by a pack, replace a member of a breeding pair or drive them off. Injury, old age and a stronger character can lead to a hierarchical change within an existing pack. This is currently the case in the Nanz pack (Valais), where the breeding male was shot in December, during the proactive regulation phase. Now a disperser male, M365, has taken his place and become the new (future) breeding male. It's a fact that shooting, as practised in Switzerland, is likely to cause more upheavals and situations of this kind in the future.
If he finds a free territory, he can either wait there for a new partner to come, also from the dispersal or neighboring packs, or continue his journey.
2. The sub-adult can become a "floater", i.e. stay on the territory of his original pack, at the extremities or in buffer zones, and wait to find a passing partner. But it can also take the place of a member of the breeding pair of its own or a neighbouring pack. Although there are exceptions to everything in nature, and the wolf is no exception, this configuration occurs more often with sub-adult females, who are known to disperse less far and often form a pack close to the one from which they originate. We reiterate the importance of knowing the genetic lineage of members of different packs, in order to gain a better understanding of how territories are used and, in particular, of the cession of part of them and the identification and management of buffer zones.
3. The sub-adult may, in certain cases such as intensive regulation leading to a rapid drop in numbers, become an additional breeder. Instead of a single litter from the official breeding pair, the pack will use a female subadult to give birth to an additional litter. This phenomenon has already been observed in Europe, although it is more common on the North American continent. The aim of this multi-reproduction is quite simply to make up for high mortality in areas where the wolf is intensively hunted and persecuted, and where regional and national numbers are falling quickly. Nature then takes over, in its own way.
It also happens that a pack has several breeding males, some of whom may move between two genetically close packs. As you can see, the notion of a pack is variable, depending on various factors such as mortality, numbers, environment, larder, situation and so on. Changes within a pack can occur rapidly, at any time of year, and give rise to internal reshuffles within the breeding pair, or the adoption of wolves genetically unrelated to the pack. The wolf's (and nature's in general) capacity to adapt is quite impressive, and shows that the highly anthropomorphic way of managing the species and its regulation, according to Albert Rösti's new directives, will bear no fruit whatsoever, since it is not based on science and the way the wolf functions.
We hope that, from now on, knowledge of the buffer zones and genetic lineage between the various packs will be more thorough, especially in Valais.
Article: TML - Wolf Mission
Photo : Fabien Bruggmann
