mackenzie – Aug 6, 2002 12:00 AM

Part 5. MacKenzie would not leave the protected area next to the building, and when the other wolves approached, she would demonstrate an intensive threat display indicating that she had not accepted a lower ranking position and did not appear that she had given up or the situation had been worked out. She appeared to be in a mind set to continue fighting. This could indicate future fights may be more intense and there was a high probability that they would occur more frequently. Previous observations over the past week indicated that she had already been isolating herself from the pack, video footage from Friday August 2nd, shows MacKenzie intimidated by the rest of the pack while they were exhibiting play behavior and a subordinate body posture with tucked tail position whenever any of the wolves approached her, specifically from behind. Shadow had been removed twice in the last week as a short term solution to help the situation, and give MacKenzie and opportunity to gain back some confidence, but after each release, he and Malik continued to harass and it actually appeared that Shadow was getting more intense after each isolation period. The last isolation over the weekend of August 3 and 4th, he was observed snapping and biting off small trees in the pack holding area. Also there were several issues about favoring a 9 year old, physically weaker wolf, rather than a healthy 2 year old. After consultation with Dr. Chip Hanson, it was decided that holding Shadow was not a long-term solution and even began to be problematic in the short-term.