Maya formed strong bonded relationships with her dominant counterparts.
Maya and her littermate, Grizzer, were born on May 5, 2004. They were raised alongside their pupmate, Nyssa. Despite Maya’s larger size, Nyssa was the more dominant of the two females throughout their puphood. However, Shadow, the dominant male at the time, began to favor Maya and they frequently displayed pair bonding behaviors such parallel gaiting. Shortly after this shift, Maya had asserted her dominance over Nyssa and was regarded as the Exhibit Pack’s dominant female. With the arrival of the 2008 litter, Maya turned her dominance focus to Aidan. After Shadow was retired in 2009, Maya’s focus on Aiden turned into displays of pair bonding. They remained a bonded pair until Maya’s untimely death on March 1, 2011; she had a compound fracture in her back leg that appeared to be from a tragic accident rather than a result of interapack dominance. The severity of the injury led wolf care team members and veterinary consultants to agree that humane euthanasia was the best course of action to preserve her quality of life. The strong bonds Maya formed throughout her life are a testament to a wolf’s social nature.
