Aidan turns two years old on April 27th, and while the winter has been rough as the omega wolf, you will notice his presence on the greeting rock more frequently. With the spring, comes a calmer hormonal cycle for wolves. While Maya still has her moments, she has been very playful with Aidan at times. Wolf care volunteer, Don Gossett, recently photographed this sequence through the viewing windows. Maya willingly submitted to Aidan in a very social behavior.
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Denali turns two years old on April 27th, and while Aidan is the same age, Aidan's lower ranking status keeps him from acting like an immature juvenile. Denali makes up for Aidan, constantly testing every other wolf in the enclosure. In the YouTube this week, Maya attempts to show Denali some discipline, and is able to pin him, but it has little effect on his overall behavior.
Grizzer seems to have the hardest time with the heat. It's possibly due to his larger size or his thick pelage, but his activity levels are near zero if temperatures are over 65 degrees. He continues to be extremely submissive to Shadow, and tolerant of Denali. He shows no dominance towards Aidan, but occasionally, Aidan gets nervous when he sees Grizzer running at him. Grizzer and Maya turn six years old on May 5th.
Maya seems to be responding to some of the testing of Shadow by asserting more dominance. In a short bout of tension earlier in the week, she and Grizzer had an intense jaw sparring interaction with both riding up on their back legs. How Maya will respond when Shadow eventually retires will be interesting, but there does seem to be more social behavior with Aidan than the other two males. Maya weighed in at 89 lbs, down from 98 lbs in September, 2009. But, this is expected, besides Aidan, she does get the most physical exertion of all the wolves on site.
The testing towards Shadow may be subtle, but it is something that we take very seriously. Shadow can physically dominate any of the wolves in the Exhibit Pack, but the question is, at what physical cost. We certainly don’t want to cause Shadow any physical decline by having to be intensely dominant to maintain his position. The current pack dynamics will shape the management plan for Shadow’s transition into retirement. Shadow’s weight is 87 lbs, the same as was recorded in September 2009. This is a good sign, and if Shadow’s retirement goes as well as Malik’s we expect to see him gain a few pounds. The most important influence in Shadow’s transition is the relationship he has with Maya.
Grizzer's testing of Shadow has diminished, although Denali has increased. It does seem that these two work in tandem. Initially, we had some concern that Shadow was overcompensating dominance towards these two, meaning that he was dominating at a higher intensity, but after watching the video of the pack this week, Grizzer and Denali are getting what they need to keep them in a lower ranking position.
The logs will all be the same today. We’re doing some improvements to Malik’s enclosure, so Malik gets all of my time today. This past week has been busy getting the Exhibit enclosure ready for a Chamber of Commerce mixer on Wednesday night. Windows were washed, straw was removed, the summer wood chips were added and the pond waterline thawed with enough time to fill the pond. Of course, the upper pond line is still frozen in the concrete, so the waterfall isn’t flowing, but the main pond has been a source of stimulus for the pack. When it finally thawed, the weather was 70 degrees and sunny, and all wolves romped in the water, followed by a Grizzer/Denali chase though the woods. Aidan is still getting some dominance from Maya, usually followed by one of the excitable chases though the woods, but as the photos show this week, Aidan is engaging Maya in social behavior. He does a double foreleg stab while she is on the top of the den. We have noticed some instability with Shadow after he was chasing Grizzer and Denali, he seemed to have a dizzy spell, was off balance, before planting his paws in a wide stance and gaining his stability. As with any aging wolf, we will watch Shadow closely. The YouTube video this week shows the Chamber of Commerce mixer, giving the view of a visitor to the Center. Malik had a good week, enjoying the well shaded tree cover in his enclosure.
Shadow is still dominant in this pack, but we continue to notice some old age instability. It's always a management challenge when an animal's mental state stays strong, but the physical body is weak. So far, the other wolves don't show any signs of testing, this might be why Shadow shows such a hard dominance to Grizzer and Denali, compensating for some physical weakness. We hope to get a weight on all the wolves in the next few weeks, and certainly are thinking about the transition into retirement. Shadow and Malik will be ten years old on May 8th.
Discussions have begun about Shadow's retirement. While it is admirable that he is still strong enough to ward off the tests of the younger males, we are concerned that this is taking a toll on his physical strength and endurance. In Shadow's case, we want to be proactive, not reactive, and won't wait until he is deposed. He and Malik turn 10 years of age on May 8th, and at this age, they deserve a quiet environment without the constant testing behavior of wolves looking to move up in rank. Of course, we are only in the planning stages and any movement to retirement will probably be a few months away, but we must consider all aspects, including the impact on the remaining Exhibit Pack, and the staff necessary to provide the transitional needs to the Retired Pack and monitor the behavioral changes to the Exhibit Pack. When the retirement does occur, a detailed plan will be discussed on the Podcasts as well as in the logs.
Written by Working for Wolves participants Emily Moen and Andi Nelson: As the dominant female of the pack, Maya still spends a fair amount of time harassing and chasing Aidan and is also now keeping Denali in line as the two of them mature into adults. Maya was seen stalking Denali and is becoming more accepting of Aidan's social interactions. Aidan was observed foreleg stabbing and muzzle biting Maya which is a significant change from this winters' interactions.
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