This is unusual, since pack animals usually benefit from the group by being able to bring down large prey. In this case, they hunt alone, and only eat rodents and small mammals. It is thought that they stay in groups to help defend their rodent-rich territory from outsiders. All the areas where rodents are found throughout their range are taken by packs. As a result, most male wolves and some female wolves remain in their natal packs.
Many female wolves become stragglers between the territories of other packs.
The boundaries are marked regularly with urine and feces from all pack members. This is reinforced by auditory cues like howling and visual cues like claw marks on trees near the boundaries. Pack rivalry is common, and the winner of such scuffles is determined by the size of the pack. Threats There are estimated that fewer than 500 individuals survive in the wild today, and they are vulnerable to being hunted by people who believe that they hunt livestock. Since they only have very few small populations to begin with, any outside threat is likely to devastate the population.