kwyeewyk
Well-known member
The article only touches on wolf effect on elk, human safety, and general behavior. Presumably they don't discuss livestock predation because that tends to hold true--most wolves don't prey on livestock but it enough do to make it a real issue that is hard to dispute.
I don't think wolves often kill "for fun", I think surplus killing is probably most often opportunistic, but it's hard to say what happens in the wild without witnessing it, and even witnessing it doesn't give all the answers. There is plenty of evidence of a wide variety of animals surplus killing, often without eating. Hard to explain each motive, could sometimes be related to teaching young to hunt or just instinct to kill when the opportunity is there, but sometimes I do think some animals are killing for "fun". Orcas killing seals and batting them around with their tails for hours before leaving them comes to mind. I think they are getting some satisfaction from that that goes beyond instinct to kill.
en.wikipedia.org
I don't think wolves often kill "for fun", I think surplus killing is probably most often opportunistic, but it's hard to say what happens in the wild without witnessing it, and even witnessing it doesn't give all the answers. There is plenty of evidence of a wide variety of animals surplus killing, often without eating. Hard to explain each motive, could sometimes be related to teaching young to hunt or just instinct to kill when the opportunity is there, but sometimes I do think some animals are killing for "fun". Orcas killing seals and batting them around with their tails for hours before leaving them comes to mind. I think they are getting some satisfaction from that that goes beyond instinct to kill.
