Animal Observation Paper

The organisms we selected to observe for our study on social behavioral patterns in hierarchy structures were grey wolves (Canis lupus). We decided to focus on the population and how each member interacts. All the wolves we observed are held in captivity. The locations we are doing our field observations are at the Detroit Zoo (Detroit, Michigan), Toledo Zoo (Toledo, Ohio), Potter Park Zoo (Lansing, Michigan) and the Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue (Brooksville, Indiana) . Because we studied wolves in captivity our sample size is small (n = 11). Each location varies in the size of the pack; our smallest number is at the Detroit Zoo where only two wolves are present and at the Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue we observed one pack that includes three individuals. Both Potter Park Zoo and the Toledo Zoo house three wolves. Potter Park’s wolves have a medium sized enclosure with three access pens. The zoo staff has created several shelters, tables and trees/logs to allow for shelter and obstacles for exercise purposes. The

We looked for behaviors indicating a hierarchical structure. The packs vary in location, size and age. We used an ethogram to record observations of specific behaviors exhibited by our study species over a series of time. Using the ethogram, observed the wolves for two hours at each zoo location, and we recorded the amount of time that they exhibit a specific behavior related to social status. Ethogram tables are often used in behavior research to compile data before transferring it to graphs, such as the case with Mehrkam and Thompson (2014). They used bar graphs depicting comparisons and contrasts between wolves and hybrids which