This week’s photo was taken by Christina Rizzo while visiting the Center for a recent Wildlife Photography session with Heidi Pinkerton. Aidan has had more freedom of movement and has really benefited from the added cover hay in front of the windows. There seems to be some days that are better than others and it is difficult to find the correlation of temperature, feeding, behavior, attitudes or staffing. We did have a real surprise when Aidan came into the building on March 2nd when we were weighing the arctics and he stepped on the scale as well. His weight of 136 pound was the same weight recorded last summer; A weight loss would be concerning and might be an indication that there is an underlying health issue, so, maintaining a steady weight is a good sign. We had some snow removal in the enclosure today and Aidan was reluctant to go into holding, even with the pack locked in the east side retirement area. We take it day by day and meet his needs on his terms. It’s the least we can do for a pack leader who has experienced so much in his nearly 10 years of life.
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Luna definitely has a thick pelage that makes it hard to assess her physical condition. She continues to be receptive to some body work, but we need to be very sensitive to her preferences and to the level of physical touch. Luna has had some soreness this past month and we will all feel better when the spring melt gets rid of some of this ice. For the winter, we maintained a diet for Luna that was half the amount fed to Grizzer and well below the average of 3.7 pounds typically required by wolves. Despite her diet, we still saw her gain a few pounds this winter. I actually witnessed a raven drop a chicken breast from the Exhibit Pack into the Pack Holding Area and Luna took no time in finding it, defending it and eating it. Who knows how many treats she gets in a day, we have a lot of ravens. Appetites typically diminish as spring and summer approach and we have reverted her to to the summer diet of 2 pounds of meat – 5 days a week. This is about 30% less than a winter dose and after we brush off a few layers of hair, we will work on getting her target goal back to under 100 pounds. In this week’s photo, you can definitely see the scruff around her neck that has at least a 4 inch girth of hair.
This week’s photo was taken by Christina Rizzo while visiting the Center for a recent Wildlife Photography session with Heidi Pinkerton. Grayson is very keen on activities in the building and when we have a photographic session or behavioral observation, he seems to be conducting his own behavioral studies. He is especially keyed in to the presence of youthful exuberance (i.e. young kids running) which likely triggers the predatory drive. Grayson had another positive fecal for roundworms, so he received a treatment as well as the pack to reduce any risk of reinfection. We will test him again in the upcoming weeks to make sure the treatment was effective. It does seem that he might have a weaker immune system or may be associated with his underlying stress of the pack dynamics this winter since he seems to have had more issues than Axel even when they were pups. There is no doubt that Grayson reacts to things with more intrepidation. We did weigh Grayson on March 2nd and he had slightly increased in weight from 82 pounds at the beginning of the year to 84 pounds. Of course, wolf weights fluctuate significantly with the fact that they can eat 20% of their body weight while gorging on a carcass, but we still want to get Grayson as many food resources as possible. Until further notice, staff have been instructed to continue to feed Grayson any chance they get, the problem is, Denali thinks the instructions apply to him.
This week’s photo was taken by Christina Rizzo while visiting the Center for a recent Wildlife Photography session with Heidi Pinkerton. The wolves provided many opportunities for great photos including this one of Axel, Grayson and Boltz displaying a pack rally. Axel has been very active lately and there seems to be a correlation with temperatures and some behaviors that are more hormonally driven. We have noticed some mounting and rid-up behavior displayed towards Denali and Boltz. Between the arctics, Axel is definitely more antagonistic towards Aidan, often displaying a threat display as he approaches. The good thing is we are on the downhill slide of winter and these challenging times should diminish. Axel was weighed on March 2nd and he continues to maintain a good weight around 98 pounds.
Many people ask about identifying Axel and Grayson. The most distinctive characteristic is the grayish saddle on Grayson’s back. What if you are only looking at at a facial view? One thing to note is the definition of the Axel’s muzzle. Do you notice the more slender appearance with less of a sweep below the eyes? If so, you are noting Axel’s characteristics. If you add his behavioral characteristics of pulling pack member’s tails, then ID becomes much easier.
The biggest challenges for Boltz is to get the other pack members to see his leadership skills. Tail posture is one way, but there needs to be some display of acceptance from his fellow pack members. This winter has been a challenge for the pack. With Aidan’s decline in confidence and leadership, the other pack members seemed to face some challenges. Axel seemed to be the biggest challenge, but his posture in this photo of a lowered head, ears pricked to the side and a slight lifting of his paw indicates that he is deferring to Boltz’s status. We don’t know how the upcoming months will play out, but we know that staff will be diligent to the nuances of body postures that influence behaviors.
Denali has always been the wolf that has his nose in everything, often in places where it doesn’t belong. But as the arctic yearlings mature into adulthood, Denali has met his match and is playing back seat to the younger crowd. This is the view from the 1/2 gate where wolf care staff distribute extra food resources for Grayson and have the ability to film the pack without going into the enclosure. The food conditioning makes this gate a positive experience, much to the detriment of a clean camera lens.
Grayson has been displaying an increased focus on all pack members, but particularly Denali. At this point, it’s still difficult to determine who will resume leadership in the future, but if keen observations are a skill, Grayson definitely excels, it’s good thing he has such a strong bond with Aidan. If there was a weak social bond between Aidan and Grayson, I wonder if Aidan’s membership in the pack may be different. I am particularly fond of this photo because it shows his peaked interest and and a depth of expression in his eyes. We will be weighing the arctic yearlings on March 2nd to see if we made some progress with the daily feedings.
We have had some noticeable improvement with Aidan’s confidence. On Tuesday, February 20th, Aidan came to the front gate and took his morning supplements with the rest of the pack. This was real progress, he hadn’t had the confidence to be in such close proximity with the pack since January 11th. But, we have been expecting, spring is the time for winter attitudes to calm and tensions to subside. But still, we were very surprised that during wolf care today, Aidan joined the arctic yearlings in the medical pen that is only a 6 foot by 20 foot area. In previous weeks, close proximity interactions were out of his comfort zone. As we have experienced with past pack leaders, this season of calm may allow Aidan to stay within the Exhibit Pack through the summer, but he and Denali will be 10 years of age on April 27th. We may have retained Aidan’s presence in the pack now, but we will likely need to prepare a plan as next fall’s tension returns and a retirement will probably occur. At least if we wait until October, the arctics will have reached maturity and may not be more suited to lead. We still see the vulnerability of the juveniles when there’s conflict, especially from Grayson.
What can I say about Grizzer… He looks better than he has in the last few years. His eyes are more alert, his coat is thick and in great condition and he can hear the wrinkle of a ziplock bag at 40 yards; Not bad for a wolf that will be 14-years old on May 5th. We solved some of the early Luna conflicts with Grizzer by switching them to a daily feeding regime. This was out of necessity to control Luna’s obsession about food and to regulate her diet, but the change seems to work well for Grizzer as well. In this photo, you will see him favor his back right leg as the main concern for his well-being. Living with Luna has been a bonus and as changes occur in the Exhibit Pack, we will always be mindful of Grizzer’s well-being and reduce changes to his life unless necessary.
