Biologists are intrigued by the involvement of subordinate pack members as helpers in the care of the pups. According to evolutionary theory, the sole objective of an organism's life is to be the parent, grandparent and great-great-grandparent of as many descendants as possible. In this way, an individual ensures that its own personal genetic material is well represented in the future stock of species. In the "struggle for survival." this is what counts-the survival of your genes into succeeding generations where they can continue to influence the course of evolution. So why would a wolf that had been forcibly prevented from producing its own offspring stick around to assist with rearing its oppressor's pups?
As we have seen, a wolf pack is basically a family. Although strangers may be admitted from time to time, most of the nonbreeding wolves who help at the den are daughters and sons of the breeding pair. More specifically, they are daughters and sons who have decided not to head out on their own but instead have chosen to remain with their parents, at least for the time being. Different wolves adopt different reproductive strategies. As yearlings, most of them make brief exploratory trips inot the big wide world outside their home territory. Some of them disperse, never to be seen in the neighbourhood again. Indeed they may wander over many hundreds of kilometres in their search for a suitable mate and a vacant territory on which to establish their own pack. This explains how wolves from Canada have been able to recolonize the northwestern states. But other individuals decided to stay with their patents for a year or two, or even for lifetime. Some of these "biders" are ambitious to advance in the sexual hierarchy and actively pursue the high social status that may permit them to become breeders. But others seem content to serve as nursemaids to offspring horne by other animals.
Although this behaviour may appear self-sacrificing, helping is also of benefit to the helpers. In fact, some biologists believe that many helpers are actually dependants. Still young and inexpeienced, they may hang around the den in order to share in the hunting success of their parents and to beg for regurgitated treats from other pack memebers. Do helpers generally take more than they contribute? This question has not been clearly answered.
But let us assume that appearances hold, and it turns out that helpers really are helpful. A rationale for their behaviour can then be found in evolutionary theory. From a genetic point of view, an individual has the same degree of relationship to a sibling as to its own offspring. So a wolf that helps care for its younger siblings is also helping to ensure the survival of its own genes. Similarly, in cases of communal denning-a relatively rare occurence in which a subordinate female bears young and then brings them to the alpha's den to spend their infancy-both females have a genetic stake in the other's progeny.
One way or another, wolf pups receive the devoted care not only of their parents but also of sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts and, occasionally, grandparents. Sometime in the first couple of months, the whole family may relocate to a new densite, with the youngsters transported, one by one, in the jaws of their mother. Then, when they are about eight or ten weeks old, too big and rambunctious for a burrow, the family relocates to an open-air home, or rendezvous site. This is an area of about a thousand square metres where the youngsters play and to which the adults return each day. A succession of similar meeting places is used till about September, when the yearly cycle of breeding and birth begins again.