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"Standing Over" and "Hugging" in Wild Wolves, Canis lupus

Introduction

To help understand the nature of relationships among members of Wolf (Canis lupus) packs, the postures of interacting animals are important clues (Schenkel 1947; Zimen 1982; Goodman and Klinghammer 1985). However, because of the elusiveness of Wolves, it is difficult to observe their behavior under natural conditions (Mech 1974). Even the few observational studies that have been conducted of wild Wolves (Murie 1944; Clark 1971; Carbyn 1974; Haber 1977) have failed to quantify most Wolf postural behaviors, including "standing over" (Schenkel 1947) and "hugging" (Goodman and Klinghammer 1985). I attempt here to quantify and analyze these two behaviors in one wild Wolf pack.

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