Watch as a Pack of Wolves Charges Hundreds of Elk Down a Mountain Side

This is such a superb display of teamwork that you cannot help but be impressed! A pack of wolves has located a herd of elk and is chasing them down a hill. If the elk group manages to stay together they stand a better chance of escaping. Herd animals rely on there being safety in numbers. However, the wolf pack manages to isolate a young female. One wolf manages to grab hold of her and soon the other wolves notice. Sadly, the outcome is now inevitable.

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Where Do Wolves Normally Live?

This particular clip was captured in Yellowstone National Park where the grey wolf is a native species. This wolf species once inhabited most of the Northern hemisphere from the Arctic through to Africa and southern Asia. Sadly, things are very different now. These wolves are now found in a few areas of the US including Alaska and there are small populations in Mexico and Eurasia.

Their numbers have been reduced as a result of habitat loss, hunting, and environmental change. They are able to live in a range of habitats including forests, arctic tundra, and prairies.

How Do Wolves Normally Behave?

What we see in this clip is typical wolf behavior. They are highly social animals who live in packs. Each pack can be made up of anything between two and 35 individuals. However, most packs contain under 10 wolves so the group that we see in this clip is a large one. Wolf packs have a fixed hierarchical structure. At the top, there is an alpha pair – one male and one female. The rest of the pack is made up of their offspring from previous years. However, sometimes unrelated wolves also join the pack.

Wolves are carnivores and have to hunt to stay alive. Sometimes wolves hunt by themselves but at other times they hunt as a pack. They are also quite happy to steal prey from other predators and to feed on carrion. The pack will locate prey by scent but sometimes they just stumble across it. A herd of elk of this size is not exactly hard to spot!

Wolves would not normally take on a herd of elk when they are on their own because they stand a much greater chance of success as a pack. Packs of wolves are also willing to hunt herds of moose, bison, and reindeer.

The typical method of attack is for a wolf to attack the rump, flank, and shoulder of the prey animal. The most common target prey are weak, old, or young. Wolves often eat the whole carcass including most of the head and bones!