shadow – Apr 16, 2007 12:00 AM

In the past logs, we have made reference to Shadow’s willingness to interact socially in what’s been termed “Play behavior. We put the word “Play in quotations, because there are some Ethologists that debate if wolves play. They believe that wolves’ behavior is a function of instinctual survival, and that every action has a reason or motivation tied to an instinct of survival. Play is often termed for no specific reason or for the fun of it. In some aspects, our observations would have to agree with the Ethologists. While we say Shadow is in a playful mood, what we are really saying is that Shadow is willingly stimulating social contact within the pack and creating pack cohesiveness of the social group. If wolves are hunting prey much larger than themselves or raising a litter of pups that need a good food source to maintain an incredibly fast growth rate, wouldn’t pack cohesiveness and stimulating social behavior be a function to making for a more efficient hunting unit? Regardless of the theory, Shadow was the most likely wolf to stimulate social interaction when Grizzer and Maya were introduced in 2004, and he continues that behavior today. His video shows his command of his position by high tail body posture and eye contact.