Attachment behaviour in wolves

Wolves are animals which live in social groups referred to as packs and are known for forming affiliative bonds with others in their packs.[3] Wolves in packs are known for initiating play with one another.[3] It has been observed that wolves initiating play are not doing so randomly. It may be a reflection of the relationships present in the pack and will reflect the tension, cooperation, and competition present.[3] Tensions are noted to become higher around breeding session where the cost and benefits are weighed against each other.[3] Female wolves are known for being the main initiators of affiliative interactions though a small percentage of males will initiate affiliative interactions.[3] The omega male was not a target of any affiliative interaction.[3] In other studies researchers have separated the most dominant wolf and the most subordinate wolves.[4] It was recorded that the dominant wolf spent less time sleeping and showed more behavioural stress compared to the omega wolf.[4] The dominant wolf was reported to rest in the section of his enclosure closest to his pack.[4] It has been noted by researchers that the younger subordinate wolves seem to have less attachment to their pack compared to their higher ranking compatriots.[4]

Wolves' cooperation is essential for tasks such as hunting and protecting young though the level of attachment present in the pack are not necessarily equal.[4] It should noted that the majority of wolves are known for dispersing from their birth pack, this makes measuring attachment behaviour present in the packs to be difficult.[5] Though there are cases in which when wolves leave their pack they accompany siblings with the same sex as them.[5] This behaviour has been mentioned to be a form of adaptive behaviour that benefits both pack mates in future conflict.[5]

When studying wolf attachment behaviour it was found that there are specific criteria for a wolf to exhibit attachment behaviour to a human. Wolves that were removed from the den around 10 days of age and were raised for 3–7 weeks by a human caregiver were shown to display attachment behaviour to their human caregiver.[1] The pups were with their caregivers 24 hours a day for the first 1.5–2 months of their lives.[1] Then the pups were present with their human caregiver for 16 hours a day and the caregivers were responsible for feeding the pups.[1] The pups were tested with a novel stranger and their caregiver present in a novel room, this was done by using a modified Ainsworth Strange Situation Test.[1] Prior to testing the wolf pups were observed to show no preference between their caregiver and a novel stranger.[1] After the wolf pup's 2 minutes of isolation phase they were shown to more likely greet their caregiver compared to the stranger.[1] Wolf pups were even observed to show an effect of reunion by having greater proximity with their caregiver compared to a novel stranger.[1] Though this does not necessarily mean that all wolf pups will exhibit attachment behaviour as different variables may impact the attachment behaviour present in the wolves.[1]

Wolves who have been hand reared for 16 weeks showed a different behaviour compared to those hand reared for 3–7 weeks. The wolves that were tested were separated from their mothers and littermates 3–5 days after birth.[2] The wolves were in close contact with their caregiver for 20–24 hours for the first 16 weeks.[2] The wolves were socialized with other wolves and were exposed to novel situations to the extent that they were used to traveling in cars and on public transportation.[2] Due to the hand rearing the wolves lacked wariness and did not actively avoid humans.[2] It was noted that the wolves had a strong interest in strangers.[2] The experiment was tested over seven episodes where the wolves were first exposed to their caregiver, their caregiver and a stranger, just a stranger, their caregiver, were left by themselves, with a stranger and finally their caregiver.[2] The hand reared wolves studied seemed to seek physical contact with the stranger and did not discriminate between following their caregiver or stranger.[2] This result was theorized to be due to the wolves being of a more independent age at the time of testing.[1] After the study the wolves used were able to re-socialize and were allowed to enter into a pack of wolves.[2]