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behind the big cat's and bear's, who is the top predator?
behind the big cat's and bear's, who is the top predator?
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behind the big cat's and bear's, who is the top predator?
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My Vote Definitely goes to the Wolf Pack if we are talking about a collective unitElk are the preferred prey of wolves in Yellowstone. And USU wildland resources assistant professor Dan MacNulty says the reintroduced predators will go out of their way to find their favorite food — and it may not be a matter of taste, but rather their own safety.But when a pack of wolves is large enough and the conditions are right, the canines will turn their attention to bison."Elk are smaller and they aren't as aggressive as bison," MacNulty said. "The odds of a successful elk kill are three times higher than with an encounter with bison."An earlier study MacNulty worked on noted that wolves in groups of more than four tend to hold back when pursuing elk and let others take the risk of injury during the hunt."Given a choice, wolves will stay out of harm's way until it's safe to enjoy the spoils of the hunt," he said.But when wolf packs hunt Yellowstone bison, the group typically involves nine to 13 canines cooperating in the effort. Even then, a kill is not always the result.MacNulty says some of the largest Yellowstone wolves are about 140 pounds. Elk run up to 700 pounds and a bull bison can easily weigh more than twice that — up to a ton."The data we're collecting on wolf hunts is helping us understand how wolf pack size, bison herd size and environmental conditions affect wolves' ability to successfully hunt bison," said Aimee Tallian, a USU doctoral student working on the study.MacNulty was camped in the Pelican Valley on St. Patrick's Day 1999 when the group he was with watched what was the first recorded observation of wolves successfully hunting adult bison in Yellowstone after their reintroduction to the ecosystem, perhaps for the first time in 60 years.At dawn that March morning. the researchers were posted at an observation point within sight of a group of about 35 bison staying warm in a large geothermal area. Ten or 12 wolves from the Mollie's Pack were spotted on the fringe of the herd."It started kind of calmly as the wolves harassed a few individuals standing on the outskirts of the bare ground," MacNulty said. "As time wore on, the bison were getting agitated and antsy to move on."In the winter months, bison seek places without snow. On open ground, bison are quite capable of defending themselves and will even fight as a group to stave off predators. That all changes in the deep snow of Yellowstone winters.MacNulty noted there were a series of bare ground patches in the valley, all linked with single track snow trails. Pressured by the presence of the wolves, the bison eventually headed for the trail and made their move to the next bare island.Marching single file, the bison at the end of the line had no opportunity to defend its backside and other bison could not turn to help.
http://www.sltrib.com/home/1815446-155/b...y-wolf-elk *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author There is no mamal safe from a large enough wolf pack, they hunt as a unit and possibly the best synchronized unit around. They will even confront the massive grizzly over kills "  *This image is copyright of its original author Don't Miss
 *This image is copyright of its original author JACKSON HOLE, WYO – Planet Jackson Hole came upon the “Wolves versus Bear” video that’s swiftly making the rounds on social media. It features a wolf pack chasing away a grizzly bear in the Mud Flats area of Grand Teton Nation Park. We were as astounded as anyone who has seen it. We decided to ask the experts exactly what was going on in the short interaction between the wolves and the bear.Are the wolves just messing with the griz? Is the bear afraid of the wolves? Does this kind of showdown happen very often and who would win if they got into it?Here’s what Steve Cain, chief biologist for Grand Teton NP; and Dan Stahler, Yellowstone wolf project biologist had to say after we showed them the video. STAHLER: While there is no obvious carcass, per se, in the shot, there are a fair number of ravens in backdrop that would indicate there is probably something around. This type of behavior you are seeing is what we would typically find if a carcass is present – both wolves and bears would be drawn to it. Adult bears, and that looked like an adult bear, will often take over a carcass and wolves usually back off feeling it’s not worth getting swatted over.Wolves and bears know each other’s behavior well enough that the wolves would feel comfortable darting in there and dancing back and forth without getting hit. What I’m interpreting here is there is probably carcass in the area and with some smaller wolves, pups-of-the-year around, well, then the adults are willing to escalate the situation and be more aggressive in driving the bear from the area.CAIN: I think what’s happened is the bear just happens to be traveling right through where a wolf pack was hanging out with pups-of-the-year. From what I can see, that pack is the Huckleberry Pack. You can see in the video – I’m watching it again now – when the bear starts to turn toward the wolves, the adults get excited and decide to escort it out of there. You can see one wolf has something in its mouth and with the ravens around you can assume there could be a food item involved.Toward the end of the video you’ll notice four or five wolves, all black, standing and watching and not participating. Those are all pups. The adults were on guard. Wolves will often attempt to make a concerted effort to move bears off a carcass, especially if the bear is not very big. Numbers help. This is a completely typical and expected reaction, though.STAHLER: We have a lot of data we haven’t worked up yet, so I don’t have a scientific answer as to whether more wolves betters their chances. But yes, when there are more wolves in a pack, I think that bolsters their confidence. We have seen that a group this size is very advantageous.You can see some wolf tails come up in the video. These are likely the dominant alpha adults. It’s kind of hard to tell size. It doesn’t look like a huge bear to me. Maybe a sub-adult male? The bear looks like he becomes easily distracted a few times wondering which wolf is going to come in and bite his ass. That nipping at a bear by a wolf is fairly common. He doesn’t look like he is interpreting the wolves as a real risk. You see him stop and hop and look at the wolves once or twice, and a couple of them run away. Those are the younger ones probably.CAIN: Since they are competitors for the same food items, they are always testing each other. You see one wolf charged right in there and bit the bear on the butt pretty good and that’s not uncommon. Right before they go into willows you can tell the bear just wanted out of there.STAHLER: Yeah, once the bear leaves and goes into willows the wolves’ postures change and they seem content that the bear is out of the way and the threat is removed. We have had wolves kill bears in Yellowstone. It is extremely rare and it’s usually cubs-of-the-year, but they don’t target bears as food."http://planetjh.com/2013/09/11/wolf-vs-bear-showdown/  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author A large enough pack will run off any grizzly but they need big numbers to do so. But the fact that they will even attempt it shows their bravery and tenacity. Edit: That video of the hyena attacking the Jackal pup shows how brave Jackals really are. The size difference between the hyena to the cub is similar to a Male lion to a hyena and no way are a pack of hyena trying so desperately to save another member from the grips of the Male lion but these jackals fight till the bitter end to protect their pup, even against two Hyena and their is only 5 or 6 of them. Must be a tough life for Jackals but cool to see such a tight nit family bond. |
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