Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-35455126-20190505225136/@comment-24018437-20190507080626

Actually, wolves don’t really have the infamous pack system. The sciencetist who came up with the theory even came out years later to claim he was wrong. In reality, a wolf pack is more like a family. The ‘Alpha’s’ are just the mother and father wolf and the rest of the pack are usually their pups, with the hierarchy based on whom the oldest or youngest.

So as cool as the whole Alpha and Omega system and such sounds, it rarely (if it all) happens in the wild. The only times things such as Alpha and Omega systems have developed were under specific circumstances, usually in captivity when the wolves weren’t related to each other.

Same for other canids. Most canids are solitary or live in a small family group, though dholes and painted dogs have an unique ranking system. With most social animals, the stronger individuals get to have everything. But dholes and painted dogs usually allow their young, sick and elderly to eat first, a behavior unique among carnivores, as many carnivores will always try to eat first, even when they have young that need to be fed. Dholes, painted dogs and tigers (not a canid, I know) are notabele exceptions to this rule.