Grayson – Tails Tell It All

We’ve spoken about Grayson’s confidence when he’s near Aidan and certainly this photo of a T-1 (over the back) tail posture shows this confidence as Aidan does a ride-up behavior on Denali.   It’s been a long year, watching Grayson struggle with the focus of Denali and turn to Aidan for comfort.  Now, it appears that Aidan is far more than comfort, he is a source of power for Grayson.  This is why we say every pup introduction is different due to the dynamics of the pack they will join.  As the spring advances, we are seeing less ritualized dominance that can result in tension and more social rallies that result in tail wags and wolves in unison.  Grayson did better than Axel during the 17th April medical exams, he definitely sees the Wolf Care Center as a source of comfort.  Both recovered well and Aidan welcomed them back within 6 hours of their procedures (I just posted a Youtube video showing the pups being reunited with Aidan).   I received many questions as to why we choose to neuter the pups.  The Center is not a breeding facility and we started in 1989 before many of the birth control methods were proven effective or safe for use in wolves.  Our USDA Vet Care Plan established neutering and spaying as the recommended method for reproductive control to avoid overpopulating our Exhibit or having pups with no homes.  On a 4-year rotation, we acquire pups from other facilities to aid in our educational mission.  We chose to work with three different subspecies (arctic subspecies, northwestern subspecies and great plains subspecies) to highlight the varied geography and distribution of wolves in North America.  The three subspecies wouldn’t meet geographically in the wild, so allowing breeding in captivity between the subspecies would produce a cross that would be uncharacteristic of their wild counterparts.  None of the three subspecies are candidates for release in the wild, so any captive born wolf would stay in captivity, and demand in captivity may vary.   Our wolves serve as ambassadors to the wild and our management philosophy is to work with the safest and most effective physical care while paying attention to every detail that helps form a cohesive pack of wolves.  To help us celebrate Axel and Grayson’s birthday on May 2, 2017, follow this link to register for their birthday webinar. https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/