Late last winter a scientist went to retrieve the carcass of a dead wolf from a trail outside of Fairbanks Alaska. The wolf had been there a week and it was being retrieved so a specialist could do a necropsy.
The wolf had died next to a trail popular with x country skiers and snowmobilers. A trapper they met on the way in suggested someone might have shot it, blood on the trail. When they got there they saw where a small scavenger had entered through a hole in the abdominal cavity and eaten the organs. Closer examination revealed a large hole on one side such as might be made by a bullet that quickly expands. "High velocity lead poisoning" was the immediate conclusion.
A closer look caused some confusion. The broken ribs of the exit were more rounded than one of the scientists remembered seeing from moose he'd shot. There was very little blood for such a large wound if it was from a bullet. A large exit wound causes massive and immediate bleed out.
Shooting the wolf was not an illegal act, but every wolf kill must be reported to Fish and Game. Besides if the wolf was taken illegally why leave it beside the trail? Why leave the pelt? The wolf was large and healthy. The scientist's dog running around found a "lying up" place in the trees within 100 yards. A place with a number of indentations in the snow from a wolf pack sleeping.
Photo RMEF
The scientist who did the necropsy was a veterinarian, she'd done over 200 of these disections on wolves. It took her less than ten minutes to definitively establish the cause of death. Peeling the skin off the throat revealed muscle turned to hamburger and a fractured larynx yet the skin showed no signs of what was underneath. Underneath the skin of the torso was the evidence of many bites and a collapsed lung. "Shredded" was the way the scientist described the results of an attack on a single wolf by an entire pack.
Intraspecific mortality is a fancy way to say two packs have a war with each other. It's been the leading cause of wolf mortality in Yellowstone National Park for years. If you are a wolf, and you live in Yellowstone, chances are you will be bit to death by other wolves. When two packs clash usually it's one of the alphas that die, smaller wolves turn tail and run, the big wolf is left to the teeth of the rival pack.
A new study suggests overcrowding is causing the high rates of wolf on wolf mortality. Sorry only a link to a newspaper story. http://www.sltrib.com/... (Secondary stories from journalists are always suspect, but for now I've no free access to the study.) For a while it's been speculated that the wolves of Yellowstone having eaten themselves out of prey were turning on each other in desperation. This study seems to suggest it's more because of crowding.
Imagine the power of a bite strong enough to collapse a lung or fracture a larynx. A wolf that dies from bites of a rival pack must receive many bites before it dies, a terrifying and painful way to die no doubt. And this is the most common method of death for the wolves of Yellowstone. At least when wolves raid a den and kill puppies it's probably all over quickly.
http://www.wolf.org/...
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/...
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/...
http://www.scribd.com/...
Update: Before I head out the door it looks as if the usual showed up spewing nastiness. I sure do wish this web site had moderation. I won't be commenting. I'll let my post here speak for itself. Hope you enjoy the reading.