The glaring eyes and snarling teeth say it all – this timber wolf is top-dog.
The grey wolf, smaller and far less aggressive than his blacker counterpart, rolls over in submission to avoid a full-on fight he knew he would lose.
For the junior grey wolf that happened to stray into the wrong part of the forest that day, it was lucky that the submissive display was enough for the timber wolf to let him slink away unharmed.
German photographer Ingo Gerlach, 63, managed to capture the display of dominance from the safety of a security fence at Bad Mergentheim Wildlife Park in northern Bavaria.
He said: ‘The wolves in this park have a wonderful space for themselves. It’s also fantastic for photographers, as it’s possible to get down to their eye-level and take photographs with nothing blocking the view. In early summer, and especially before feeding, the wolves are extremely active and fights for status are common. But in this instance, as soon as the timber wolf bared his teeth, the grey wolf rolled onto his back and waved his tail. If he hadn’t yielded to the alpha male so fast then the grey wolf could have had some serious injuries. Instead, the hierarchy was very quickly established and the timber wolf went back to being completely relaxed, barely paying attention to the grey wolf.’
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