Prey, tell us more about wolves!

I've been hearing about how the 'the prey diet' is the best diet. And I've heard the counter argument of 'why should we feed dogs this way as wolves usually die really young and basically needs be able to run pretty fast and long to catch their dinner'. I'd even heard it said that 'wolves' teeth are usually terrible, too - so much for the raw meaty bone diet!' The argument goes, 'we want a long dog's life, without prey drive and without the need to reproduce, so our couch potato dogs' lifestyle is more suited to lower protein and carbs.'
But what do captive wolves eat if they don't have to catch their own dinner or fight for survival? And how long do they live in the wild compared to captivity? What is the normal cause of death in the wild? And do they really have such poor teeth?
Kevin Dorling, Edinburgh

Also posted on the Think Tank blog.

Dear Kevin
Thank you for your post regarding wolves’ diets. I have worked with captive wolves and world class wolf experts for 10 years and I can definitely say that wolves do not die due to their diet. Wolves have the same number of teeth as dogs; the only difference is that theirs are much bigger. They also have a higher bite power which is around 1500 pounds per square inch, roughly twice that of a Pitbull Terriers. Wild wolves teeth, if they live long enough, can get worn down and they do some times suffer from spiral and slab fractures but this happen as a result of bringing their prey down not the eating of prey or the lack of nutrition in their diet. Think of wolves as lean athletes, they eat only what they need to survive and are feast or famine feeders i.e. will eat up to 20 pounds of meat in one sitting and then nothing at all for days. Captive wolves' teeth are general really clean. In 10 years I’ve never seen one of the wolves I work have with dental issues.
A colleague of mine Josip Kusak who works with wild wolves in Croatia wrote a paper on dental issues in 2007 called ‘Prevalence of Dental Pathology in Wolves in Croatia’. This provided some credible data regarding dental issues with wild wolves. 34 skulls were examined for dental changes. The skulls originated from wolves which had died due to various reasons in Croatia between 1997 and 2006. Age of examined animals ranged from seven months to eight and half years. Only three skulls had changes to teeth or the alveolar bone (the sockets of the teeth in the jaw bone). Periodontitis, with changes in the alveolar bone, was determined on the alveolus of the lower fourth premolar in two individuals and on the alveolus of the mandibular first molar in one specimen. Complicated crown-root fractures were found in two individuals. All caries lesions (tooth decay) were found on premolars and molars, (except on one incisor), Caries were also found on the upper jaw in one animal and on the lower jaw of another animal, while a third animal had decay in both jaws. None of the animals died because of dental issues and of all the skulls examined the pathological changes belonged to females older than two years. Out of all the skulls studied 8.9% had dental changes. Dental disease is rare in wild canids and evidence shows that they seem to cope by changing sides for chewing. Fractures of teeth also seem to be rare but not unheard of.  Possibly lesser fractures where the tooth crown is lost but the pulp is not exposed would be quite common.
Captive wolf diet will mimic the wild. We feed deer, rabbit, beef, chicken carcases, fish, sheep stomach, (called paunch) and any other meat we are donated. It’s all raw with the bone and fur. Their digestive system is very robust and can cope with eating carrion. They also eat fruit, nuts and berries both in the wild and in captivity. Ungulate faeces is consumed for its nutritional value; wolves stomachs are naturally very acidic so digesting plant material is difficult but if its been through the prey species stomach first then the wolves can utilise the vitamins and minerals.
It is true that in the wild wolves do not live long; on average only six to seven years but the cause of death is normally disease, malnutrition i.e. lack of food, parasites, man, other wolves or even their prey causing injury whist they hunt. In captivity they live very long lives and it’s not unheard of for wolves of 14 year plus. The oldest wolf I have heard of was 20 years old.
So to sum up wolves both captive and wild who eat raw meat and bones have very good teeth. Problems come from not the eating of raw food but the actual bringing down of the prey which can exert immense pressures on the dentition of wolves.

Toni Shelbourne
Education Officer and Senior Wolf Handler
UK Wolf Conservation Trust

www.ukwolf.org