Wolf re-spawns?

[past caring]

I've read that it's possible to increase the time between wolf re-spawns by not harvesting the whole carcass - and that has been my experience since using that tactic in my game.

But this implies that a wolf won't re-spawn until it has fully decomposed. Only I have just killed the wolf in Crystal Lake that spawns across from the Mountaineer's Hut, when the corpse of his brother that I killed a day or so back is still lying down by the jetty (3.3 kg of meat, hide and guts still on that corpse - I've not harvested this wolf at all on the assumption that the less I harvest, the longer it will take to decompose and re-spawn).

If I'm right and it is the 'same' wolf, is this a bug?

Edited December 17, 2020 by past caring
clarity

[UpUpAway95]

I think mostly respawns depend on the difficulty setting.  There is a custom setting that controls it in custom games.  Perhaps on the most frequent setting, the wolves can respawn before the carcass despawns.  I've never used the technique you describe to delay respawns so I don't know for sure though.

It may also depend on how many days into the save you're at.  There is also a custom setting that slows wildlife respawns over time... making wildlife more scarce later on.

Edited December 17, 2020 by UpUpAway95

[DrZ]

I've seen two wolves on that lake. But after half a day one was gone and then I just killed the remaining.

Afaik, you can harvest down to 0.1 meat and have the same de-spawn rate compared to untouched.

[Daymo]

Beware setting the respawn rate too long as it affects game animals too. You start seeing a lot less deer and bunnies after killing a few.

[ManicManiac]

@past caring

After living in single regions for longer periods of time, I've also noticed that the wolves (and timber wolves) tend to cycle between a small group of locations on a psudoramdon basis on average (that I've noticed) between 3-5 days.  I've had situations where I'd taken down a wolf, and figured I'd it would be clear for at least a few days... only to come and find 2 wolves prowling there the next day.

I don't claim to know for sure... but as I continued to watch "wolf roaming cycles" I've seen some spots were a lone wolf and a group of 2-3 may have overlapping "territories."

It's also possible (as @DrZ said) that there was simply a second wolf that was part of that group, but roaming around on or behind the rock formation nearest the stream.  I've almost been ambushed due to a crafty one doing just that.  (that is, thinking the lake was clear... then almost getting my face chewed off as I went to follow the stream up the hill )

Edited December 17, 2020 by ManicManiac

[Glflegolas]

Copied from the wiki:

Quote

A fixed number of wolves are present per region (living and dead), generated at wolf spawn points which they wander close to. Each spawn point can only house one wolf at a given time, though others may spawn at neighboring points. As in-game time progresses wolves may move between points. The number of active wolf spawn points, and the availability of some increases based on the difficulty setting.

So, yes... keeping wolf carcasses around with 0.1 kg of meat should reduce wolf populations in an area for longer. When I killed and harvested the two wolves in Desolation Point near the lighthouse in Stalker difficulty, they took about 3-4 days to respawn.

[reginaphalange]

My wolf respawn time in ML at the camp office is insane on Pilgrim. like every few days it seems lol. I don't need any more skins/guts so I just harvest the meat now, hoping that helps them stay around longer on the map and lengthening respawn times. I'll try to remember to leave some meat behind now.

I only kill them so they don't eat my deer, which I'm conserving at the lake 😅