grizzer – Aug 2, 2012 12:00 AM

We can't forget the impact this pup introduction has had on Grizzer. He has been moved from the pack holding area at least 6 times on the days leading to the introduction and certainly on introduction day. He's been pretty calm, but he spends a lot of time investigating the scents of the pups as well as Aidan and Denali. I had expected far more intimidation with Denali and Aidan in holding, but Grizzer showed limited issues with them. In fact, Aidan ran over to Grizzer early in the introduction as the pups were chasing him. It appeared that he would have gone right into Grizzer's habitat if the gate was open. Neither Aidan or Denali showed any high tail intimidation towards Grizzer, which is much different than how Grizzer responds to Malik. Aidan and Denali never challenged Grizzer or really kicked him out of the Exhibit. We moved Grizzer because he was losing confidence, but we made the move before they did challenge him. This means, in Aidan and Denali's view, Grizzer never lost status to them, therefore, they don't posture towards him. This is a good scenario when we are likely to need to use the pack holding area to hold the Exhibit Pack prior to feedings.