Exhibit Pack Update – 12 September 2024

To celebrate Ely’s annual Harvest Moon Festival, the Exhibit Pack received several harvest-themed enrichments! Pictured above is the lowest ranking male, Blackstone, carrying a meat-stuffed gourd. Although he is the omega of the pack, Blackstone will still successfully guard food items from the rest of the pack. Social rank does not appear to dictate food possession; guarding and possessing items seems to be influenced more by the personality of the wolf. For example, Caz is extremely food possessive and does not shy away from conflict. Grayson, however, seems to avoid conflict more often and is usually less motivated to guard food. Grayson and Blackstone appear to have the stronger bond and alliance between them compared to that of Grayson and Caz. They are very much kindred spirits, and have similar sensitive personalities.

It has been an eventful few weeks up here at our interpretive center in Ely, Minnesota. Our building is currently undergoing some much-needed staining, with plans to re-shingle the roof underway. The roofing project will require temporary fencing within the enclosure to keep the Exhibit Pack away from the roofline and freshly-stained building. This will likely take place in October. There will be extra wolf care team presence on site during this to ensure the wolves are calm and safe during these projects.

After a few blissful days of cool weather, the heat has returned. The wolves appear to be handling it well, but have been retreating to the cool shade of the forest early on in the day. It has been pretty dry as well, with very littler precipitation lately. A small (0.1 acre) wildfire has popped up in our area, but appears to be well-contained and is not a current threat. Since we are located in an area prone to wildfires, this is not an unusual occurrence. We have several fire safety precautions and emergency protocols in place to both reduce the risk of wildfires affecting the enclosure and safe evacuation of the wolf ambassadors if needed. Some of the precautions we take include establishing a wide firebreak around the entire enclosure and implementing fuels reduction practices such as woody debris/brush removal.

Our next Wolf Care Webinar is this month! Join us on the autumnal equinox (September 21st) at 4pm CDT as we assess the Exhibit’s fall colors and see if the wolves have started transitioning to the more intense interactions that are associated with a seasonal change in hormones as colder weather approaches. You can register for this webinar by visiting this page.