Videos show Yellowstone wolves bringing ‘toys’ to dens for their pups

(Gray News) – Wolves in Yellowstone National Park were caught on camera bringing “toys” for their pups back to their dens, according to the National Park Service.

In a video shared on Instagram, adult wolves from Yellowstone wolf packs can be seen walking back to their dens carrying various objects in their mouths from bones to antlers and branches.

The park service said the wolves’ offspring typically wait for their parents to bring food from their hunts back to them. Whenever food isn’t brought back, the wolves instead bring back other items.

Park officials said this instinct to bring items back to the den may be reinforced by evolution and may keep the adult wolves from being bitten by the sharp teeth of their pups.

The Yellowstone wolf packs typically have a single litter of four to five pups a year, according to the park service.

When late October rolls around, the pups are about two-thirds of their adult size and will start traveling with the pack. The ones who survive the winter have by then learned to help the pack hunt prey including elk and bison. They’ll also help raise the next year’s litter of pups and will deliver food and sometimes the same “toys”.

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