Saturday, June 17, 2017

Wolves and Prey

Wolves have a reputation for killing needlessly or for fun, but in reality wolves work hard and rarely succeed when hunting large prey like elk, moose, bison, and deer. In Yellowstone National Park, wolves only successfully make a kill in about 1 of every 5 hunting attempts! 
Elk are large, smart animals, and they've evolved alongside wolves for thousands of years. It's extremely difficult for wolves to take down healthy adult elk. Wolves can be injured or killed by a kick from an elk. For this reason, wolves tend to target very young, old, or unhealthy elk. Even so, it takes a huge amount of energy for wolves to chase and (if they can) take down prey.

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