The Toklat pack, studied by the late biologist Gordon Haber, provides an interesting example of what happens to the pack’s knowledge of specific hunting strategies and techniques when older, more experienced wolves are killed.
The Toklat pack specialized in preying on Dall sheep, quite a feat given the rocky slopes of their habitat in Alaska’s Denali National Park. Haber first observed the wolves climbing the slopes in an effort to attack from above. But because Dall sheep are superior climbers,
they would easily evade the wolves by running uphill across the steep rocky terrain. The wolves, in response, learned to anticipate this evasion, and attack in a manner that cut off the escape route, sometimes waiting for two days to stage an ambush. It was a hunting technique very specific to this pack.
In the winter of 2005, the alpha female of the Toklat pack was caught in a snare. Two other females from the pack stuck with their pack leader, who was also likely their mother,
and were eventually trapped as well. After these wolves were killed, the alpha male returned for months to this spot until he too was killed by a hunter.
