How do adult gray wolves care for pups after they are weaned?

After gray wolf pups are weaned from their mother’s milk at six to nine weeks of age, they are fed a diet of regurgitated meat provided by the adults.12

The care of the young is a collective effort, as all members of the pack care solicitously for the pups. While the alpha female typically takes the lead in the care and defense of the offspring, the alpha male plays a primary role in foraging and food provisioning. Throughout the spring and summer, the pups serve as the geographic focus of the pack’s activities. After a few weeks, the adults move the pups from their den to an aboveground "rendezvous site," where the young spend their time playing and sleeping while the adults hunt. As summer ends, the pups grow rapidly and are moved more frequently until the pack begins traveling again within its territory in the autumn, at which point the pups must keep up with the group.123