grizzer – Jul 16, 2010 12:00 AM

We are 2 weeks post retirement and Grizzer is starting to become more interactive. Of all the wolves in the Exhibit Pack, Grizzer showed the most behavioral issues with Shadow's retirement. Since the 2008 pup introduction, we have observed Grizzer to be tolerant of pups, not forcing any conflict and letting the pups climb all over him. As those pups matured, he continued to avoid conflict, and maintained a social relationship. With the exception of the dominance he showed towards Malik, he's always been quick to give in, especially to Shadow's dominance. In the absence of Shadow's leadership, Grizzer appears to be responding with avoidance behavior when Maya, Denali or Aidan are in a dominant interaction. We interpret this as a lack of behavior towards assuming a leadership role, resulting in either Aidan or Denali becoming the next dominant male. The Center is re instituting a program called Wolf Watch. This program occurs the first Thursday of every month, and involves training program participants in data collection, and having the observers camp out in the auditorium for a night of observation. We hope to offer this program the first Thursday of every month, and be able to interpret the pack dynamics without the influence of wolf care staff interactions with the wolves.