nyssa – May 23, 2005 12:00 AM

The following was written by Ann Rasberry, a significant member of the wolf care team. One Less Voice We have lost a voice from the pack. Nyssa is gone. We may not fully understand, but this is part of the natural order of things. An article on the International Wolf Center (IWC) web page notes that the second leading cause of mortality in wolves is wolf on wolf aggression. Wolf packs develop a structure which maintains order, and facilitates efficiencies in defending territories, hunting, and breeding. While the hierarchy may seem stable, lower ranking pack members are always testing, looking for vulnerabilities and opportunities to improve their status. Higher ranking individuals regularly remind the others of their places in the pack, enforcing discipline that can appear violent at times. As Lori Schmidt, the IWC Wolf Curator states, they live “in a world that is clearly run by wolf rules. Those of us who worked with the pups over this past year are especially stunned. We are upset because we named these wolves. We bottle fed, slept and played with, and cleaned up after them. We witnessed first howls, slow motion jaw spars, and watched as they fell asleep mid-wrestle. We nurtured them, and cherished the respect and bonds that we shared with these wild creatures. But we did not domesticate them; they are not dogs. Shadow, Malik, Grizzer, Maya, Nyssa…these are wolves serving as ambassadors for their kind, teaching us about ecology, pack structure and dynamics. For humans, some of these lessons are harsh. However, we must accept that these extraordinary animals are behaving as they are supposed to, and as they have since the beginning of time. We should not want it to be otherwise. Nyssa’s time was short, but her impact on so many will last forever. There is one less voice in the pack, but one voice that will remain strong in our hearts. Godspeed, Nyssa. Ann Rasberry 14 May 2005