Here are the wolves at Blackpool Zoo, the wolves I did my dissertation on.
They're Iberian wolves - a population of grey wolves that are native to Spain and Portugal. The Iberian wolf is smaller and darker than the wolves found in Canada or the US.
Meet the Blackpool Zoo wolves
by LoveUniHateExams 6 Replies latest jw friends
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LoveUniHateExams
There's been a slight change of personnel in the pack.
When I did my study 4 years ago, the pack was a mum, her sister, and her two male cubs who grew bigger than her.
If you stop the following video at 26 secs you can see three wolves. The one in front is the mum, the alpha. The middle one is the biggest and therefore must be one of her sons. The wolf at the rear is her sister, the omega.
My study was plagued with delays so when I started, the 2 sons were quite small but by the time I'd finished they were subadults going through puberty and were bigger than their mum and aunt. When this happened, the aunt became the omega (lowest ranking wolf).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mksw1MsKkdA
Despite being physically larger than her sister, the aunt was always subordinate to her. Something drives a wolf to assume leadership and it's not necessarily physical size.
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Diogenesister
Are there any wild wolves left in Spain?Did they have issues with shepherds shooting them, or am I thinking of somewhere else?Do these wolves also inhabit North Africa or are these different. I love wolves. I bought a book for my boys that’s basically the origin story of some jungle book characters - Bageera, Kaa and firstly, mama wolf. Do you remember papa wolf said she was a fighter in her youth and that everyone called her the Demon (mowgli finds it hard to believe gentle mama wolf was like this but no one wants to cross her when it comes to her cub mowgli....not even Khan).
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LoveUniHateExams
Are there any wild wolves left in Spain? - yes, but the total population of Iberian wolves in Spain and Portugal is approx. 2,500. They are listed as 'near threatened' on the IUCN list. The main issues facing them are habitat fragmentation and illegal hunting. http://oldredlist.iucnredlist.org/details/3746/1
Habitat fragmentation threatens diversity because the risk of inbreeding is greatly increased. Habitat fragmentation also brings wolves into conflict with farmers.
@OC - your meme manages to be funny and make a very serious point at the same time.
I could never own a pug. I think it's disgusting that mankind has bred unhealthy dog breeds.
Only 'natural-looking' dogs for me - border collies, Siberian huskies, Alaskan malamutes (normal size) Czech wolfdogs, Canaan dogs, etc.
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OrphanCrow
Yes, it is a serious point. Dark humor.
Humans have done some really irresponsible breeding. It's pretty sick what some breeds have to suffer with. All because of what people have done to them.
I am a fan of big dog breeds.
Our Canadian wolves are much bigger than yours. I lived in the Northern Boreal for several years and had a few wolf encounters. I have seen wolves that measure well over 7 feet tip to tip. Wolves are hunted and trapped where I come from - they kill livestock They are quite a problem in some areas. One of the packs that ran a few miles from town numbered over 60. And that was just one pack of several.
I used to go to sleep at night listening to their music coming across the river.
I didn't like seeing them skinned out. Broke my heart.
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zeb
LUHE. Impressive animals. thanks.
In Oz we have Dingos a wild dog native to the semi desert regions.
They have become bred into a very dangerous cross breed with other dogs let loose or lost and which are bigger and often less fearful of humans and take a terrible toll on farm stock.
The pug is disgusting.
OC. people are forever being told by Rangers and signs not to feed wild dogs. They become ever bolder and have attacked humans as food.