malik – Mar 5, 2008 12:00 AM

Life for Malik is mixed with calm moments when the pack is resting and uneasiness when the male rank order gets a bit intense. Staff attempt to keep everything calm in the Exhibit and while the tendency is to favor the lower ranking wolves, greeting Malik first can often cause redirected behavior towards him. The protocol is, greet Shadow first, then Grizzer and when they are calm, approach Malik. It is helpful if the wolf care staff can spread out in the exhibit to reduce the concentration around the greeting rock. Of course, it wasn't too long ago that Malik was the cause of strife for Lakota, so this is all part of the social dynamics of the wolf pack. When the pups arrive, life for Malik will improve significantly, as the calming influence of Prolactin hormone will make things easier. We are still in the process of bringing in Level I handlers to the Exhibit Pack, so Shadow is familiar with all staff that may be around the pups. Things are going well for Don Gossett, but Shadow has been a bit testing of our other Level I handlers. We will probably postpone the other Level I handlers for a month, until these increased hormones subside. I would also like to make a note to the Nannies selected for this year’s pups. We are still juggling teams, and once the teams are set, we will send out a briefing packet to each team member (probably by email), so teams can have some opportunity to converse prior to arrival and possibly offer to carpool to Ely.