To be more precise, Shenkel’s work was discredited by the collective efforts of numerous scientists studying wolf behaviour. Probably the most notable of these was David Mech. His book “The Wolf” was based on Shenkel’s work, and his own research on wolves in captivity, and was really the work that popularized the “alpha” nonsense in the public mind.

After numerous studies of wolves in the wild failed to bear out these conclusions, Mech later concluded that his work was wrong, and got The Wolf removed from publication.