Perhaps you are used to seeing wolves howling against the background of the moon, stately stretching their necks and lifting their heads up.
But not all wolves howl like that.
These inhabitants of a nature reserve, for example, are too lazy to even get up to respond to the howling of their relatives!
Alawa and Zephyr are Mexican gray wolves that live in the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, USA.
Employees call them the laziest wolves in the world, because these two are somewhat different from their relatives – they howl lying down.
As soon as another wolf begins to howl in the distance, Alawa and Zephyr begin to howl together in response to the distant howl – but flatly refuse to get up.
They continue to howl while lying down for about two minutes, after which they fall asleep again.
“Wolves howl to communicate with each other over long distances – they can hear howling up to 10 miles away in open areas! Howling can mean many things: a greeting, a call to gather a pack together, an announcement of the presence, a warning to other wolves, or just a spontaneous game or ‘checking the connection’,” says an employee of the reserve.
By howling, they inform other wolves of their location, warn of potential predators, and even report the location of their prey.
Wolves also howl in unison to strengthen the bond within the pack and drive off rival packs.
