Temporal changes of howling in south European wolf packs

Howling was elicited in three wolf packs, monitored on the Italian Apennines, between 1996 and 2000. To test their attitude to reply to extraneous individuals, wolves were stimulated by playback of tape-recorded howls emitted from prominent sites. Responses were recorded and processed by sonographic analysis, discriminating between choral and single replies, and evaluating the presence/absence of cubs. The overall reply rate was 12.6%. Responsiveness was high during late summer – early fall, a period coinciding with abandonment of the den and translocation of the litter to rendez-vous sites. At this time, chorus howling represented the majority of total replies, and the quickness of responses suggests a higher bent to vocalize. Throughout the year, late evening and dawn were the parts of the day at which wolves showed the maximum tendency to respond.