Dens are often reused year after year. Most packs occupy a range of about 80 to 100 square miles, and move about it on a regular basis. The pack members are very athletic, capable of incredible endurance, such as pursuing prey over long distances or plowing through chest high snow for long periods. Most of their activity occurs at night. The wolf is a highly social animal, generally living within the same pack for most, if not all, of its life.
Survival depends very much upon the pack.
Pack members cooperate in hunting, killing large prey, feeding and caring for the young, defending their territory against other packs, and so forth. The pack functions mostly as a strong autocratic system, with each individual having fought for its placement or rank within the group. Generally only the top male and female are permitted to breed, while any attempts to do so by others are punished. When to hunt, where to hunt, and many other activities are also commonly determined by the pack leaders. Because of the ways in which wolves have evolved and the special demands of their way of life, wolves have become one of the most highly social of all carnivores.