Gray wolf in the context of "Pack (canine)"

An apex predator, also known as a top predator or superpredator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own.

Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the highest trophic levels. Food chains are often far shorter on land, usually limited to being secondary consumers – for example, wolves prey mostly upon large herbivores (primary consumers), which eat plants (primary producers). The apex predator concept is applied in wildlife management, conservation, and ecotourism.

The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. Dogs were the first species to be domesticated over 14,000 years ago, before the development of agriculture. Due to their long association with humans, dogs have gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids.

Dogs have been bred for desired behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Dog breeds vary widely in shape, size, and color. They have the same number of bones (with the exception of the tail), powerful jaws that house around 42 teeth, and well-developed senses of smell, hearing, and sight. Compared to humans, dogs possess a superior sense of smell and hearing, but inferior visual acuity. Dogs perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, companionship, therapy, aiding disabled people, and assisting police and the military.

Baba (Macedonian: Баба; or Baba Mountain, Macedonian: Баба Планина, romanized: Baba Planina), also known by the name of its highest peak, Pelister (Macedonian: Пелистер), is a mountain in North Macedonia. The Pelister peak (2601 metres, or 8533 feet) overlooks the city of Bitola. Baba is the third highest mountain in North Macedonia. Other peaks besides Pelister are Dva Groba (2514 metres), Veternica (2420 metres), Musa (2350 metres), Ržana (2334 meters), Široka (2218 metres), Kozji Kamen (2199 metres), Griva (2198 metres) and Golema Čuka (2188 metres) in North Macedonia, and Belavoda (2.179 meters), Kirko. The Baba massif splits up the rivers in the region, so that they either flow towards the Adriatic Sea.

Pelister National Park's flora include the five-needle pine molika (Pinus peuce) - a unique species of tertiary age being present on only a few mountains in the Balkan Peninsula. Fauna in the area include: bears, roe deer, wolves, chamois, deer, wild boars, rabbits, several species of eagles, partridges, redbilled jackdaws, and the endemic Macedonian Pelagonia trout. In a comprehensive article published in 2002, Melovski and Godes reported that there are three large carnivores in North Macedonia which can be found in Baba and surrounds, the brown bear, the wolf and the lynx. Actual numbers at that time were difficult to estimate given that most reports came from non-scientific sources (surveys, hunters and anecdotal reports), however in 2002, it was estimated there were approximately 30 bears in N.P. Pelister and Galičica N.P hosting only 3-4. A larger number could apparently be found in the N.P Mavrovo. The numbers however may be significantly larger in today's climate given the protected status of bears in North Macedonia. In terms of wolves, there was an estimated total of 1200 wolves in the entire country of North Macedonia, with an estimated 54 lynx when the article was written.

The concept of the struggle for existence (or struggle for life) concerns the competition or battle for resources needed to live. It can refer to human society, or to organisms in nature. The concept is ancient, and the term struggle for existence was in use by the end of the 18th century. From the 17th century onwards the concept was associated with a population exceeding resources, an issue shown starkly in Thomas Robert Malthus’ An Essay on the Principle of Population which drew on Benjamin Franklin's Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc..

It is sometimes forgotten that Charles Darwin used the term "struggle for existence" in what he called a metaphorical sense. This was because he used it to refer not only to direct competition between (and within) species but indirect competition (as with a plant at the edge of the desert). Darwin noted that the struggle for existence could also involve active or passive mutual aid between organisms of the same or different species, instancing social insects (see also symbiosis).

Shebenik National Park (Albanian: Parku Kombëtar i Shebenikut) is a national park in eastern Albania adjacent to the border with North Macedonia. It encompasses 34,507.9 hectares (345.079 km) and is specifically marked by a mountainous landscape supplied with glacial lakes, valleys, dense coniferous and deciduous forests and alpine meadows and pastures. Elevations in the park vary from 300 metres to over 2,200 metres above the Adriatic at the peak of Shebenik and Jabllanica, hence the name. It dwells a number of endangered species that are fast becoming rare in Southern Europe, including the brown bear, gray wolf and Balkan lynx. The abundance in wildlife can in part be explained by the variety of vegetation types and remote location.

The park offers some of the most rugged scenery in the eastern section of country that were carved into their present shapes by the glaciers of the last ice age. It is home to 14 glacial lakes, the highest situated between 1,500 and 1,900 metres elevation above the Adriatic. Small cirque glaciers are fairly common in the mountain ranges, situated in depressions on the side of many mountains. Two rivers flow and multiple smaller water sources flow through the park's area including the rivers of Qarrishte and Bushtrice, both of which are 22 km long. The park area is thought to contain one of the primary remaining ranges of the Balkan lynx, a subspecies of the Eurasian lynx.

A pack hunter or social predator is a predatory animal which hunts its prey by working together with other members of its species. Normally animals hunting in this way are closely related, and with the exceptions of chimpanzees where only males normally hunt, all individuals in a family group contribute to hunting. When hunting cooperation is across two or more species, the broader term cooperative hunting is commonly used.

A well known pack hunter is the gray wolf; humans too can be considered pack hunters. Other pack hunting mammals include chimpanzees, dolphins including orcas, lions, dwarf and banded mongooses, as well as spotted hyenas. Avian social predators include the Harris's hawk, butcherbirds, three of four kookaburra species and many helmetshrikes. Other pack hunters include ants like army ants, the goldsaddle goatfish, and occasionally crocodilians.

Pursuit predation is a form of predation in which predators actively give chase to their prey, either solitarily or as a group. It is an alternate predation strategy to ambush predation — pursuit predators rely on superior speed, endurance and/or teamwork to seize the prey, while ambush predators use concealment, luring, exploiting of surroundings and the element of surprise to capture the prey. While the two patterns of predation are not mutually exclusive, morphological differences in an organism's body plan can create an evolutionary bias favoring either type of predation.

Pursuit predation is typically observed in carnivorous species within the kingdom Animalia, such as cheetahs, lions, wolves and early Homo species. The chase can be initiated either by the predator, or by the prey if it is alerted to a predator's presence and attempt to flee before the predator gets close. The chase ends either when the predator successfully catches up and tackles the prey, or when the predator abandons the attempt after the prey outruns it and escapes.

The anal glands or anal sacs are small glands near the anus in many mammals. They are situated in between the external anal sphincter muscle and internal anal sphincter muscle. In non-human mammals, the secretions of the anal glands contain mostly volatile organic compounds with a strong odor, and they are thus functionally involved in communication. Depending upon the species, they may be involved in territory marking, individual identification, and sexual signalling, as well as defense (such as in skunks). Their function in humans is unclear.

Sebaceous glands within the lining secrete a liquid that is used for identification of members within a species. These sacs are found in many species of carnivorans, including wolves, bears, sea otters and kinkajous.