Unlike most of their famously aloof kin, African lions are social cats. Photograph by Norbert Rosing, Nat Geo Image Collection When young wolves mature at about two years old, some of them will eventually head off on their own to join other packs or establish their own by connecting with another lone wolf. 'It's a community effort.' Howling, a means of communication, is a life skill that must be learned. 'They teach their young how to be wolves, like a lot of species, by modelling good behaviour and very constrained discipline and corrections,' Verdolin says. Mum and Dad, the pack's only breeding wolves, head a group composed of their stay-at-home offspring and the odd aunt, uncle, or unrelated wolf. Older siblings help take care of each year's young. You do that through play, you do that through interactions with other adults,' she says. You have to learn the rules of what it's like to be a wolf. 'Parents and the rest of the community are very tolerant of young ones and their antics. The howls of a grey wolf cause her pup to jump with excitement in Montana. Wolf families show impressive patience with young pups, Verdolin says.
