malik – Jul 27, 2009 12:00 AM

Many people ask about Malik's future. Certainly the dominance fight between Grizzer and Malik was very concerning for staff, but we know from experience that a wolf must by psychologically ready to be pulled from the pack. In order to judge this, we watch for a wolf's cohesiveness with the pack. Are they interacting or isolating themselves, do they join in on the pack rallies, such as howling, jaw sparring, chasing etc. In this week's video clip, you see Malik interacting, and even displaying a T-1 tail posture high over his back. This is a good sign that he's confident and a member of the pack. When we start to see a T-4 or tucked tail response, fear avoidance and isolation behavior, we will be more inclined to pull him from the pack. So far, he's doing well as the 3rd ranking male. Of course, this winter there will be 2 yearlings maturing and joining the rank order, so we will have to monitor this closely.