Wolves Bring 'Toys' to Their Pups at Yellowstone

Wolf pups with their motherPhoto byWikimedia

Raising a litter of teething wolf pups is tough. But the wolves of Yellowstone National Park are adept parents. This spring, the park biologists captured heartwarming video footage of adult wolves going the extra mile to keep their pups entertained.

The footage, shared on the park's social media channels last week, showcases a series of adult gray wolves from "Mollie's Pack" bringing back "toys" to their den.

These "toys" included antlers, bones, and sticks, which the adult wolves collected while patrolling their territory.

You can watch the video below.

Wolf pups, after weaning off their mother's milk, rely on adults to hunt and bring back food to the den. However, when food is scarce, the adults bring these unusual items to the pups to gnaw on, providing them with a source of entertainment and comfort.

"The instinct to bring items back to the den may be reinforced by evolution and probably helps keep adults from being mobbed by sharp puppy teeth"- Yellowstone Park via Facebook.

Mollie's Pack, one of the ten wolf packs residing in Yellowstone as of January 2023, is named after Mollie Beattie, who played a pivotal role in the reintroduction of wolves to the park. Beattie, the first woman to serve as director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, advocated for wolf reintroduction to restore ecological balance.

Since the initial reintroduction in the mid-1990s, the wolf population in Yellowstone has grown to at least 108 individuals. Although the population faces challenges, such as diseases like distemper and sarcoptic mange, their presence has had a positive impact on the park's ecosystem.

Gray wolves are currently protected under the Endangered Species Act in many states, and their status has fluctuated in recent years. However, the wolves' resilience in Yellowstone and successful reintroduction efforts in other regions offer hope for their continued recovery and coexistence with humans.

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