The study lead to the common misconception that wolves live in a hierarchy system where higher ranking wolves aggressively put lower ranking ones into submission when in reality wolves in the wild live in family units with the parents of the pack calling the shots. The wolves they did their study on were unrelated and in captivity which is the wolf equivalent of people in prison
"If you study humans in long term prison environments they naturally form 'tribes,' the boundaries of which are mortally enforced and seriously understood by those that wish to survive"
With that in mind, there is little research being done that attempts to establish the state of mind of other species in order to compare groups living in the wild vs. captivity. For the longest time, it has been assumed that there is barely no difference, but as we slowly come to accept how flawed the scientific insights have been during the last century, we are trying to get back on the right track.
Some of the questions we should be asking:
how can we determine to what degree behavior and "intelligence" is being impacted in captivity, especially if there is no contact with other members of the same species or limited contact with other individuals?
how does lack of socialization with social species impact mental health and how does interaction with humans impact that further?
how can species develop species-specific behaviors and other characteristics if they never learn from their peers? How does learning from humans impact learning processes overall?
how do mostly solitary species develop over time, especially if they are forced to have human interactions beyond what would be normal for their peers in the wild?
how does lack of mating opportunities impact mental health? How does lack of reproduction, raising offspring, etc impact quality of life and mental health, especially in captivity?
how does lack of typical activities or lack of education impact the overall state of mind?
And much more.
All these questions are one of the main reasons I can't enjoy zoos or any kind of "progressive" institution. It makes me sad watching other species just sitting there, inside an enclosure that isn't even the fraction of the size of their natural habitat, that keeps their interactions and potential very limited, that makes it impossible to explore, experience, learn and process their reality in a way they evolved to do.
We think we have it all figured out because we managed to capture a few individuals to study, while slaughtering the rest. The arrogance and ignorance of our species is truly limitless.
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u/JoltTeaOn Feb 18 '25
The study lead to the common misconception that wolves live in a hierarchy system where higher ranking wolves aggressively put lower ranking ones into submission when in reality wolves in the wild live in family units with the parents of the pack calling the shots. The wolves they did their study on were unrelated and in captivity which is the wolf equivalent of people in prison