However, most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating and producing pups, which then became their pack. “Alpha” implies competing with others and becoming top dog by winning a contest or battle. One of the outdated pieces of information is the concept of the alpha wolf. We have learned more about wolves in the last 40 years than in all of previous history. Although most of the book’s info is still accurate, much is outdated. The concept of the alpha wolf is well ingrained in the popular wolf literature, at least partly because of my book “The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species,” written in 1968, published in 1970, republished in paperback in 1981, and currently still in print, despite my numerous pleas to the publisher to stop publishing it. Then Mech referred to Schenkel’s study as he was writing a popular book on wolves. That concept was based on the old idea that wolves fight within a pack to gain dominance and that the winner is the ‘alpha’ wolf.” On his website, Mech said: “This is the study that gave rise to the now outmoded notion of alpha wolves. It can be read in its entirety by clicking here. It all started in 1947, when Rudolph Schenkel wrote a paper titled Expressions Studies on Wolves. David Mech, had a hand in popularizing the term. Ironically, the International Wolf Center’s founder, Dr.
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