A hypothesis for breeding synchrony in Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis)

Abstract

Births of the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia coincided with the end of the rainy season and were synchronized among adjacent packs. During any given year, births in packs of one subpopulation coincided closely but were out of synchrony with those in a nearby subpopulation. From this we infer the existence of a mechanism for synchronizing breeding locally. We suggest that mating synchrony helps breeding females to reduce the capacity of dominant males to intersperse, monopolizing them with philandering.