FollowEveryone of us have got scarred of the haunted sound produced by wolves in our childhood. But why wolves make noise? What they actually want to suggest? Scientists have discovered that the howl of the wolf doesn’t mean the animal is sad, distressed or angry but it actually expresses the quality of relationships between the wolves. They howl when they miss their mates or as a sign of care, say scientists.
The researchers based at Austria’s Wolf Science Centre said wolves howl more when a close companion or high-ranking group member leaves.
The study, published in Current Biology, says howling of wolves suggest their social association rather than physiological ones such as stress.
Wolves are considered to be social creatures.The study further explains relationships of wolf within its pack.
“Our results suggest the connection of social factor more in the howling behaviour than the emotional one in the wolf,” says Prof Friederike Range of the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna.
The researchers also suggested that the wolves make such sound to provide a sound-based beacon to help the wandering wolf find its way back to the safety of the pack.
