Reporduction

Wolves are monogamous in that they mate for life, demonstrating that wolves are devoted to there mates. The mating season can be from anywhere January to April. A female wolf will be in estrus for five to seven days. During this time the alpha pair will seek privacy away from the packs main gathering to ensure no interruptions. During the mating season, the Alpha male will assert his dominance during the mating season, to ensure that no other males in the pack breed. The Alpha female will do the same, this ensures that there is no over population. Sometimes its not always the case that the alpha pair will breed, sometimes female subordinates will breed due to obstruction of hierarchy or a change in the social order. Habitat conditions are also a key factor. More food means more mouths to feed and with more to feed, more stay alive and with more wolves in the pack better they survive.

Before two wolves mate, they will go through a period of ‘courtship’. This is a time where the two wolves become affectionate and socially attached to one another. They bond together by sleeping together, rub there bodies against one another in a greeting manner, shower each other in affectionate nuzzles and licks. The male will sometimes express a flirtatious demeanor to the female by prancing around her, tilting and throwing his head back, holding his front legs up on the females neck, nibbling and licking. During this time together, the male will constantly check the air and scent of the female and her readiness to mate. Lapping out his tongue into the air and using his nose to smell out the sex hormones. If the female is not ready she will repel the male away by snapping, growling and tucking her tail down. After mating, the pair will breed for many seasons to come, until either one dies or the other mate leaves. Should the male wolf die, the widow wolf will sometimes bred with another wolf of the pack or die from a broken heart.

Pups

Once a female wolf conceives she will be in gestation from fifty five to sixty five days. Wolf pups are born deaf and blind, usually four to six pups are born together. . Relying 100% on their mother for food and protection. Pups are born inside a den which the mother will dig or find during gestation. The male will sometimes help the female dig a den or find a suitable location for the pups to be born at. The cycle of a pup goes as the following; 10 -13 days, they open their eyes -> 3 weeks, their milk teeth appear and they start to explore the den -> 4-5 weeks, they start to explore outside the den and begin to eat meat -> 6 weeks, begin to move at least a mile from the den -> 6- 8 weeks, the pups are weaned -> 12 weeks, begin to travel with the pack on hunts (With adult wolves) -> 15-28 weeks, milk teeth are replaced -> 7-8 months, begin to hunt with the pack.

Pups are always a joyful welcome to a pack. Pups usually keep the social order in peace by constantly playing with the other adults, keeping tension down just like the Omega. Once a pup reaches about one years of age, they will be sexually mature and adhering the role of pack member, hunting and being socially apart of the pack.