With the Memorial Day holiday, all wolf logs will contain the same text content with different video and images. The most notable event this past week involved a bit of tension between Grizzer and Malik that escalated into a short, but noisy dominance display involving the entire Exhibit Pack. Staff had noticed during the "Workin for Wolves" weekend that Grizzer was stalking Malik, but Grizzer is a bit shy around strangers, so he didn't have too much action in front of the working group. As time went by, this tension was noticeably increasing, and on Thursday morning's wolf check, Grizzer became agitated with Malik and in an instant, forced Malik onto the ground. The entire pack was involved, with varying degrees of intensity, note Maya's hesitant stance. This was Grizzer's way of reasserting that he is now the #2 male on the Exhibit, taking over Malik's role this winter. This interaction is shown in Malik's video. In Grizzer's video, you will see another wolf communication to assert dominance, in a more passive manner. Grizzer is following Malik, causing Malik to be intimidated. When the male rank order has some strife, Maya gets a bit anxious. In her video clip, you will see her seek reassurance from Shadow, and toward the end of her clip, she actually climbs on the rocks to the wolf care staff to get out of the dominance mix. Shadow is watchful of the rank order issues between the #2 and #3 males, as Grizzer may try to increase rank farther by taking him on for the dominant role. But, in Shadow's clip, you do see Shadow with Maya doing a ride-up on him and Grizzer showing submissive ears. The Retired Pack is continuing to do well, as the weather warms, staff are making an extra effort to remove the excess undercoat of hair to help cool them. Lakota enjoys a brushing, Mac is not as enthusiastic. MacKenzie cools herself by finding a shady area in the enclosure or by panting.
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With the Memorial Day holiday, all wolf logs will contain the same text content with different video and images. The most notable event this past week involved a bit of tension between Grizzer and Malik that escalated into a short, but noisy dominance display involving the entire Exhibit Pack. Staff had noticed during the "Workin for Wolves" weekend that Grizzer was stalking Malik, but Grizzer is a bit shy around strangers, so he didn't have too much action in front of the working group. As time went by, this tension was noticeably increasing, and on Thursday morning's wolf check, Grizzer became agitated with Malik and in an instant, forced Malik onto the ground. The entire pack was involved, with varying degrees of intensity, note Maya's hesitant stance. This was Grizzer's way of reasserting that he is now the #2 male on the Exhibit, taking over Malik's role this winter. This interaction is shown in Malik's video. In Grizzer's video, you will see another wolf communication to assert dominance, in a more passive manner. Grizzer is following Malik, causing Malik to be intimidated. When the male rank order has some strife, Maya gets a bit anxious. In her video clip, you will see her seek reassurance from Shadow, and toward the end of her clip, she actually climbs on the rocks to the wolf care staff to get out of the dominance mix. Shadow is watchful of the rank order issues between the #2 and #3 males, as Grizzer may try to increase rank farther by taking him on for the dominant role. But, in Shadow's clip, you do see Shadow with Maya doing a ride-up on him and Grizzer showing submissive ears. The Retired Pack is continuing to do well, as the weather warms, staff are making an extra effort to remove the excess undercoat of hair to help cool them. Lakota enjoys a brushing, Mac is not as enthusiastic. MacKenzie cools herself by finding a shady area in the enclosure or by panting.
The pond had an outbreak of tadpoles this spring. There were hundreds of tadpoles in the pond, and their release of CO2 can be observed in Shadow’s video this week. The bubbles in the pond would be present in the morning, then dissipate later in the day. After the tadpoles disappeared, the pond was cleaned and replaced with fresh water. Shadow is very interested in staff scent, he checks out the location of the pond filter after staff have completed work on the filter.
Written by Planning for Pups program participants, Kelly Godfrey and Ed Stimpson: "After Lakota and Mackenzie wre fed a 2 beaver carcass, Mac took her carcass to a corner of the enclosure to eat later. Lakota tried to take her beaver, but Mac was ablto to keep Lakota away from her food. Mackenzie seemed to be moving around well, with little stiffness."
Lucas continues to be our measure of aging issues in the Retired Pack. Of all the wolves, he is the slowest to rise and has the most sway in his step. His photo this week shows a tall and lean wolf, which may make the joint issues more prevelant than the more compacted body structure of Lakota. Recent emails have noted Lucas looking a bit off on the webcam. We see him gaze off into space, with no real focus to his stare, but when he's stimulated by a staff person or wolves in the other enclosure, he's back to a bright and focused response. He also likes to get his rest more than his packmates, and we observe him resting with head down more than the others. He seems to be over the shyness he displayed earlier in the winter towards staff. Physical inspections are part of the regular wolf care protocol, but behavioral inspections are equally important, specifically at this age.
Whenever we get the bright sunny days of spring with the intense reflection in the snow cover, we worry about MacKenzie's eye condition. This year, we've observed none of the squinting and painful response to light that we've identified in previous years. MacKenzie still has some lipid deposits covering her right cornea, but her attitude, interest levels and visual tracking seem to be good. She is a bit overwhelmed by new sounds, so staff limit unnecessary traffic to the retired pack that doesn't have a direct benefit for the wolves.
Malik's behavior has not altered throughout the winter. He presents himself with high tail and growling toward Grizzer and Maya, but when Shadow approaches, he runs for the back of the enclosure with his hackles up and a look of panic. Yet, when the opportunity arises, he repeats the behavior, in attempts to gain some status. We have observed more grabbing from behind behavior from Malik, especially when Shadow is busy with Grizzer. This is something important to document, specifically, if Shadow is distracted by some event that gives Malik the advantage.
Maya is clearly a dominant force when it comes to pack interactions. Usually, it's just with Grizzer, but in this week's observations, Grizzer initiated a playbow to Shadow encouraging interaction. Maya responded by taking an active role in the dominance. Of course, we have similar outcomes where Maya is on the bottom of a Grizzer dominance bout, but we rarely see Shadow assist Grizzer, he continues to be a back up for Maya and now, Maya is a back up for Shadow.
Wolf care staff have been discussing Shadow's behavior and the noticable changes since the 2004 pup introduction. When Malik and Shadow were the only members of the exhibit pack, Shadow seemed somewhat aloof with wolf care staff, and when he did greet, it was for a short period, with limited excitement. Since the pups introduction, Shadow has taken on the role of pack leader. He's usually the first to greet, he initiates play bouts, is watchful of all other interactions and responds with high tail and facial expressions when behavior gets a bit too much. The obvious change is that for the first time in his role as an adult wolf, he has a pack to lead. It certainly reinforces the biological studies of wild wolves that speak of the roles of a dominant wolf.
Again, we apologize for the delay in wolf logs, our intent is to post once a week, but wolf care is always the priority over every other job. These past few weeks, the facility and grounds area of wolf care has needed our attention. This season is best known as the ice season, when daytime temperatures create melting, but nighttime temperatures revert back to freezing. Conditions are slippery and hazardous, not only for the staff, but the wolves as well. Thanks to the kind donation of straw from Theresa Williams, the enclosures are getting a fresh layer of straw to increase traction. This is most problematic for the retired wolves, as any slip on the ice can affect older, more brittle bones and joints. The wolves are doing well, and are spending a significant amount of time sleeping in the sun. Lakota seems to have been up to a few other things, as she has a new canine bite on the nose. Staff seem to think the bite was from MacKenzie, but based on our interactions with Lakota, she pushes the limit with both Lucas and MacKenzie.
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