Mowat decides to pack up his camp and begin a study on wolf hunting behaviors. He and Ootek take the canoe and begin taking a census of the wolf population, which is formerly believed to be 30,000. Mowat estimates that the actual population is more like 3,000 wolves. Ootek teaches Mowat about the breeding practices of wolves. Female wolves do not breed until the age of two; males do not breed until the age of three. According to Ootek, widowed wolves tend to remain celibate, but are willing caretakers for the pups of other wolves. Wolves also have a built in population control: when food is scarce, a wolf bitch will give birth to a small litter and vice-versa. If this method does not control the population, diseases such as rabies generally will.
Ootek.....
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