grizzer – Jan 14, 2008 12:00 AM

The winter continues to be an active time for the Exhibit Pack. While some ritualized dominance struggles are part of the natural order of the wolf pack, the compatibility of the pack is very good. The wolves have strong social interactions, and even though Grizzer will make Malik a target for redirected aggression, the pack spends time together sleeping, feeding and interacting. There’s no one individual that stays on the fringe of activity, which can happen if there’s a lot of tension. Grizzer remains submissive to Shadow and some of the earlier testing seems to have decreased. He has been submissively rolling over for wolf care staff. It is important that external stresses be minimized in the wolf yard at this time of the year, and the staff has made a decision to reduce the amount of Behind the Scenes programs during the winter. The Behind the Scenes programs will continue in May, after the cycle of these dominance hormones decreases. As a reminder, the Nanny and Behavioral Team applications are on the website under the Programs tab… the deadline is February 1st.