Traditional Wolf Hierarchy:.
Wolf dominance has been well studied. In these older studies, a clearly defined hierarchy was found. At the top are an alpha male and an alpha female that usually lead a pack of 6-8 wolves (Harrington 1983). Next there is the beta male and females, and finally, if the pack is large enough, omega males and females. In this pack, only the alpha wolves breed, while the others help hunt, defend territory and look after the young. Since only the alpha wolves breed, the betas often compete and challenge the alpha's for dominance (Raab 1967). There are also other perks to being the breeding, or alpha male or female. The breeding pair often eats first, then afterwards control which other wolves get access to the food.
The alpha male is dominant over the rest of the pack, even the alpha female. Most of the time however, antagonistic behavior occurs towards the submissive members of the same sex. It is very rare for the alpha female to snap or in any other way attempt to be dominant over a beta or omega male and vice versa. The pups, yearlings and any other older offspring still with the pack are also submissive to the breeding pair, and will be until they leave the pack.
A couple reasons a wolf leaves its pack is to find a mate, and to find its own territory so it can begin to reproduce (Messier 1985). Many offspring will leave the pack between the ages of 1-2, although some leave as early as nine months and others will stay until they are well over 3 years old (Van Ballenberghe 1983). These young wolves who are leaving in search of mates and territory are called dispersing wolves (Gese and Mech 1991). If these wolves manage to find a mate, they will begin the cycle all over again, and within a couple years, a new pack will be formed from their offspring and possible lone wolves accepted into the pack as beta wolves. Some beta wolves may also attempt to leave the pack to find a mate so that they can breed as well, instead of trying to vie for dominance with their current alpha male.
