For no particular reason at all------
I recall watching a documentary many many years ago about the couple who basically lived with a pack of timber wolves for a year or so, studying their behavior, their hierarchy and how they cooperate and maintain order within the pack. They filmed hours and hours of the pack's interactions and edited it down to a two hour or so program.
The part of the documentary that made the deepest impression on me involved how the leader of the pack---the "Alpha male"--- dealt with a pup that was repeatedly too aggressive with its litter mates.
Rough play is a normal part of a wolf pup's behavior and an essential part of its development. But, most understand that it is play and while they grasp each other with their teeth as they wrestle, they don't bite down with force. Any "nip" is accidental and it is very rare for skin to be broken---usually.
In the documentary, one pup in a litter of five or six was attacking his brothers and sisters again and again, causing yips and squeals of pain. Even when they fled from him, he pursued them, snarling loudly and snapping at them. The Alpha watched it all for several minutes.
Finally, when the "bully" had seized a sister by the throat and was about to do serious harm to her, the Alpha rose, seized him in his massive jaws and---bit him in half.
The group survives and prospers only when members respect each other. The bully pup was a threat to the unity needed to function as a pack. That threat was removed by the leader. Nature can be cruel, but it is almost always efficient.
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