Painted wolves sing to choose a new alpha pair
After the matriarch, Tait, died, her pack were leaderless for a while. It was a weird period. For a couple of months, every single animal in this pack was a youngster and there were no experienced animals. It had the vibe of a Spring Break holiday. Everyone flirting with everyone and there was no proper leadership! It was a mess. They looked so goofy without the strong leadership of Tait and her male consort, Ox.
It appeared that in some way this singing was about choosing a new alpha pair.
Then, after several months of this, we heard and saw something new and rather extraordinary. A chorus of singing began. Each painted wolf in the pack joined in this weird haunting chorus, which went on for about three or four weeks. It was a little like the sound they make when one of them has got lost. It carries a long way, and will help bring the lost animal back into the pack. But none of them had suddenly gone missing and anyway it wasn’t quite the same sound.
Instead, the males and females paired off and often the male would rest his head across a female’s back. She’d bow her head and howl at the ground and he’d be resting his head and calling. It appeared that in some way this singing was about choosing a new alpha pair. I jokingly called it a singing ‘competition’. How this process works we have no idea because it hasn’t been seen before. We were the first to ever witness it, which was a very special experience.
