Social interactions and stress in our wolves

Diary entry, 13.08.2010, Angelica da Silva - Vasconcellos

Pictures of the day (2 images)   

The first results of the stress monitoring with our wolves are already analysed! Daily behavioural observations and faecal collections that took place in winter brought us interesting information: stress levels, assessed through cortisol (one of the most important hormones related to stress) metabolites, present in the animals’ faeces, are correlated to the animals’ hierarchy! The highest animal in hierarchy (Kaspar) was the wolf with the highest cortisol concentration, and so on.

This is not a surprise, since wolves are very social, and it is known that in wolf packs, two of the most important factors influencing the animals’ welfare are their social relationships and their role in the group. These results are similar to the results reported for wild wolves, but such study with behavioural observations and faecal collection had not been done in a captive environment so far.

Besides, the amount of aggressive or friendly interactions were not correlated to cortisol concentrations. These results suggest that a higher rank position does not lead to higher stress levels because high ranking animals engage in more aggressive or less friendly interactions than lower ranking animals do. It seems that the maintenance of dominance requires special attention and other leadership skills than simply participating in interactions with other pack members.

These original results were already published and discussed in the Canine Science Forum, a huge scientific event that took place in the University of Vienna, from 25th to 28th of July. Our wolves, besides becoming famous, are contributing to the knowledge on the species’ behaviour and welfare.