maya – Apr 16, 2007 12:00 AM

Maya is an important component to this pack cohesiveness. She interacts well with her littermate (Grizzer), respects her dominant co-leader (Shadow), and spends time with the omega (Malik). One of the most interesting benefits of working with and studying socialized captive wolf behavior, is the opportunity to recognize the different roles displayed by each wolf. Each wolf is unique and has a place in the pack structure that is unduplicated. In this week’s video clip, you will see Maya taking a relaxing moment in the enclosure, but note the multiple ear postures, each position expresses a different communication. Staff can only interpret, but the off to the side airplane ears mean intimidation, ears pricked forward mean interest and ears flat back may mean fear or anxiety.