Nice shot!!

dem bitches always be fightin' :I

very nice shot of this couple fighting and showing who is in charge. :) not often seen in images so clear.

That is an amazing shot

Great action shot. :O Awesome.

My thoughts exactly. :D

Ty jo, nechtěla bych se do takovýchto tlam dostat O.O

Well, that's how subordination works :)

http://www.davemech.org/news.html Just gonna post this here. Dominance and "alpha" theory in wolves is not what was once commonly believed. Beautiful pictures though.

I have seen that one already. As David L. Mech wrote in this work, the problem with calling a wolf an "alpha" is in wild packs. The hierarchy in the captive packs is more or less linear and gender based, as was believed (and being unnatural). Therefore I don't really see a problem using the ranks alpha, beta or omega although, the hierarchy has it's dynamic's in the captivity as well.

The pack in Bratislava ZOO, from where these pictures come from consists of the breeding pair which is also the alpha pair. That is natural because of the parent-child relationship. All other males were removed from the pack. The females consist of one from the first litter - Matsi, which has the beta position and asserts herself over the other females and three females from the second litter. Among those three one teams with Matsi and the other two are low ranks and are being terrorized by Matsi and the other female from their litter.

Despite the fact the dominance has not a high information value in wild wolves, it has an information value in captive ones. You need to know the relationships of the pack members, as it has the influence on the well being of the wolves in the pack, on the daily work of the animal keepers, etc.

Well said. Sometimes I think people release shocking new wolf information to stay relevant. Doesn't change the facts. Saying that no wolf is more dominant than another is like saying, no person is more dominant than another. Which is entirely untrue.

And, to say that dominance plays no factors in wolf society, is also akin to saying dominant people do not shape human society. Which is clearly untrue.

As I have mentioned, this pack was grounded as a family, so you could call Freya breeding female and Klimt breeding male. But at the age in which the "pups" are now, they would be already dispersed and as they are held together artificially, a considerable social pressure and stress applies on the pack, which then heightens the aggression within the pack members and enforces the building of a strict hierarchy.

Wolf on top:

"Dammit how many times do I gotta tell you to brush your teeth before giving me kisses!"

Wolf on bottom:

"I did, I did! See??"