- ma 28 jul 2003, 11:52
#1836
Even wat algemene (Engelstalige info) over wolven:
Wolves kill only to eat - to survive. Because wolves usually hunt for large animals, (although wolves are opportunistic and will eat smaller prey) they work together to catch their prey. Wolves will eat a healthy, strong animal if they can catch it.(Wolves need an average of three to ten pounds of meat each day).
Wolves eat in a certain order, the alpha male eats first, and turns go down the rank. The only time the order changes is if a member of the pack is pregnant or has recently had pups, then that member eats first.
Wolves' digestive systems operate somewhat differently than ours. They are adapted to process huge amounts of food at a time, then eat nothing for three days or more. Biologist David Mech witnessed a pack of 15 wolves kill a 600- pound moose and eat about half of it in an hour and a half, meat, bones, fur and all. This works out to about 20 pounds of food per wolf! Mech estimated that the wolves he witnessed in this encounter were about 85 pounds each, which means they each ate about 23% of their body weight. They don't do much chewing, mostly just tearing chunks off and swallowing them whole. After eating their fill, wolves will either spend a few hours relaxing and digesting, or return to the den to regurgitate food for the pups and other pack members who did not join in the hunt. A wolf's digestive system can handle a large amount of food quickly and efficiently, processing the meat and fat so thoroughly that only bones and fur are excreted in the scat.
The wolves at the park are fed mostly deer, from road kill. They brought in a carcass while I was there, fascinating to watch. The alpha female went over and tore open the throat and began eating the muscle meat from the neck and shoulder, exposing the ribcage. She had to work at it, bracing herself and pulling to get the hide out of the way and rip off pieces of meat. Her muzzle was red (reminded me of the infamous dogs in elk story). Apparently, muscle meat is considered the choicest part of the carcass -- I asked about organ meats, and was told that they will tend to eat those first if they have not had organ meat for awhile. These wolves do not eat the stomach contents at all and only sometimes eat the intestines and the harder bones, like the leg bones, depends on how hungry they are. Sometimes, when food is plentiful, they don't eat that many bones, but other times they will finish off a whole carcass (except for the stomach). Another wolf came up when the alpha female was done and pulled off the tail and munched on part of it, then ate some meat from the hindquarters. They said that wild animals open the belly first because the skin is thinnest there and easiest to open -- at the park, they make a few cuts in the hide with a butcher knife to make the access easier, which may explain why neither of these two started with the belly.
The wolves are only fed three times a week, though they may eat parts of the carcass that are left over on other days. The carcasses are ripe and stinky and sit out in the sun with flies on them, doesn't bother the wolves at all and I've never heard of them having trouble with bacteria
Groetjes, Lizzy
