lakota – Jun 19, 2006 12:00 AM

Lakota continues to shed her fur, the help of daily brushing from the wolf care staff. This is one of the duties of the wolf care staff during the summer months. She did well with the introduction of new wolf care staff member, Bryn Fadum. Visitors often inquire how staff members become wolf handlers at the center. This is a long and timely acclimation process which, at first, involves being adjacent to the wolf enclosure then gradually being introduced, in short periods of time, inside the retired enclosure. New wolf care staff members work with the retired wolves first, as they are more tolerant of new handlers than the wolves in the exhibit pack. If all goes well, they will then progress to doing wolf care with the Exhibit pack. This is a process which takes many months and is dependent upon many variables, such as the interactions between handler and wolf, the comfort/confidence level of the handler, etc. Safety is always first and foremost when training new wolf care staff.