Luna – Responding to the Neighbors

Luna is definitely aware of pack activities next door.  She and Grizzer get a clear vantage point from the top of the densite to see and hear the pack as the winter dynamics increase.  Although Luna’s much calmer in retirement than when she was in the Exhibit, she is still prone to bouts of vocalization, especially when the noise coming from the Exhibit indicates strife.  She is having a great winter with limited physical issues although she still presents her back leg for some body work and is quick to let staff know when she has had enough.  

Denali – More Concerned about Ravens than Leadership

Denali has always been a wolf that has taken things in stride.  The change to Aidan’s confidence has had more of an impact on Grayson than it has on Denali, who is Aidan’s true littermate. Denali may be near the pack when they focus on Aidan, but is less likely to join in.  Denali’s usual concern is the food resource.  As an exhibit that feeds carcasses, we always have to be mindful of feeding amounts to ensure that all pack members have adequate resources.  We judge the food dominant personalities versus the food timid personalities to make sure they can obtain and protect their resources.  In the 2018 Exhibit Pack, Grayson and Boltz are the food timid personalities and Axel and Denali are the food dominant personalities.  Denali goes one step farther and is not only food dominant to the wolves in his pack, his tenacity extends to the ravens and humans who frequent the enclosure.  As you may witness from the webcams, we lose a lot of food to ravens, so Denali’s response is to keep the food resource within reach. 

Boltz – The Intensity of the Eyes

Aidan’s loss of confidence seems to be most correlated to Boltz’s presence.  We have observed surveillance footage as well as direct observations where Denali and the arctics can move around Aidan and even feed on the same carcass, but as soon as Boltz approaches, Aidan tucks tail, offers a lip curl threat and retreats.  At times, Boltz does nothing more than look at Aidan, but no doubt, the intensity of the stare speaks volumes.  This is a new-found role for Boltz who spent most of last summer in a self-imposed state of panic over the buzzing insects of northern Minnesota.  But, does the intensity of Boltz’s stare enough to lead a pack?  There is evidence to suggest that the answer would be no.  After a recent feeding when Aidan was able to drive Boltz off a carcass, Boltz seemed to revert to pup-like food begging behavior from Denali, who in Boltz’s mind is appears to be higher ranking.  This obnoxious submitting created enough unstable energy that both arctic yearlings seemed to take advantage of Boltz.  So, if Boltz shows the same unstable energy when dealing with flies, he may be perceived as weak by the fellow pack members affecting his ability to lead.  But, the buzzing insect issues seems to be more psychological than physical, so if he comes into the summer with a more confident mindset, maybe he will display a more confident attitude.  We know we made progress with the bacon flavored bubbles we used last summer, so we intend to continue that desensitizing conditioning behavior for the summer enrichments.  Time will tell; One interesting thing about pack dynamics is that the actions of an individual and time of year can influence the pack interactions.

 

Meet Our Wolves - Axel

Axel – Could he Lead?

Axel has matured to a 98-pound adult that has mastered the jaw-sparring and ride up behaviors necessary to take on a leadership role. His most common sparring partner is his littermate, grayson, but he’s also been quick to establish some dominance over Boltz.  With Aidan on the way out, could Axel be the new pack leader?  There are certainly many factors that can influence this outcome.  If Aidan reverts to a lower ranking position or is retired, the behavior of Denali will be critical to watch.  If Denali has no limits from Aidan, his presence in the pack will keep Grayson in a more subordinate role (which we have clearly witnessed in the past month).  If Grayson is more subdued, that only give Axel more rank.  What about Denali leading the pack? Denali had a chance to lead this pack in 2011 but didn’t take on the role.  Of course, he’s 7-years older and wiser, but how does that stack up to the vigor and curiosity of a 2-year old?  Time will tell, but Axel is fast, he is inquisitive, and he is always watching. 

 

Grayson- Greatest Impact to Aidan’s Loss of Leadership

While it is difficult to watch Aidan’s lack of confidence, it is even more challenging for staff to observe the impact of Aidan’s loss of leadership on one of his #1 allies, Grayson.  Since the 2016 introduction, Grayson has been more timid and his lack of confidence was a target for Denali and Boltz to assert their dominance.  But, Aidan was always there to intervene or to give Grayson a social greeting in the most tense of circumstances.  This helped Grayson form some strong social bonds and gain the confidence to mature into adulthood. But, without Aidan, life has changed for Grayson.  The impact is broader than not having an advocate or allie during a pack focus; In Aidan’s reduced leadership role, Axel’s has received less dominance and has less consequences to his behavioral testing.  Without boundaries, he is asserting himself with more intensity and as you can see from this photo, Grayson is responding with threat displays that match that intensity. 

Aidan – A Tale of Five Tails

It has been a challenging month, but after some concerning days, Aidan seems to be making some progress.  In this photo, there is a significant amount tail details to interpret.  The pack is doing a chase round the enclosure. focusing on Grayson who has his tail tucked and is an a slightly crouched position. Unfortunately, that is a somewhat common occurrence for the more timid of the two yearlings and is usually instigated by Denali.  Boltz is closest to Grayson with a t-2 tail, which follows a straight line from his back in more of a predatory mode.  Denali is next on top of the hill with a slightly lower tail posture and more of a wagging sweep indicating less intensity and a bit more social.  Just below Denali is Axel, who has an elevated T-1 tail above the back and a closer look at the photo shows his direct eye contact with Aidan.  Axel’s focus is Aidan even though he is running with the pack, hence the T-1 tail.  The most interesting observation here is Aidan.  It has been over a month since he started to lose confidence and became a target of the pack.  Aidan reverted to his yearling days when Maya would physically drive him to the den site.  He had the same timid, tucked tailed cowering behaviors when he was the omega of the pack.  But, this was our pack leader, would we be able to get him back to leadership or would he be able to co-exist at a lower rank? We still don’t know how this will all play out, but from this moment in time, Aidan has a high tail with a slight rise at the base indicative of a wolf with attitude and yes, confidence.  If he’s not the focus and he is in the safety zone, he is showing more moments of confidence than of intimidation.  This is progress.  We are also confident that as spring emerges and hormones transition to the seasonal influence of prolactin, things will get easier for Aidan.  But, as a wolf approaching 10 years of age, retirement is inevitable.  So, why not pull him now? This tail posture also shows a wolf who still wants to be part of the pack. 

Aidan- Confidence to be a Leader

If you are a frequent viewer of our webcams, you may have noticed a significant change since last week.  Our pack leader Aidan appears to have lost confidence when dealing with the pack.  He has reverted back to using a safety zone of the main den to avoid testing, reminiscent of his early life in the pack.  As a yearling, Aidan was the pack omega and often forced to stay near the confines of the densite due to Maya’s dominance, now as an aging pack member, he seems to be displaying similar behaviors.  I am posting a video on the Center’s Youtube channel that shows a clip of this behavior as a yearling and what we have been monitoring in the last week.  This may be a temporary winter dominance issue or may be a transition into retirement for Aidan.  Wolf Care staff are assessing the situation throughout the day.  Staff are discussing the behaviors of each wolf to determine the best management action.  It does appear that Aidan still wants to lead this pack as indicated by his ear and tail posture when the pack is moved to an adjacent holding area, but less confident when the pack is active around him.  Aidan has a special affinity for Grayson, who has been observed going into the den with Aidan at various times throughout the week.  This is a challenging time for staff to ensure we are making the right decision for the pack and for Aidan.  We have a wolf care webinar on Friday, February 2nd where we will discuss our management plan.  If you are interested in being a subscriber to all 12 webinars or as a single webinar viewer, the registration is online at https://wolf.org/programs/webinars/

Boltz – Middle Ranking

The Center has a management policy of adopting wolf pups every four years.  The thought behind this policy is to have a middle-aged wolf that takes on the roll of a buffer between the maturing younger wolves and the aging older pack members.   Young wolves start testing at about 9 months of age and reach full maturity between 18 – 24 months of age.  During this maturation time, their personality trait and attitude can intensify.  You may have heard of the phrase, “Terrible Two’s”, we have a similar concept in wolf management, only it’s more like “challenging yearlings”.  We don’t tag a negative label to wolf behavioral as most instinctual behavioral development is likely driven by a benefit of surviving in the wild.   Boltz has done a great job of being that buffer, not only, asserting status over Axel and Grayson, but as a middle ranking wolf, he is watchful of Aidan’s attitude and abilities, keeping Aidan mentally and physically stimulated and on high alert.  

Boltz – In Boltz’s world Ravens are the Flying Bugs of Winter

Boltz continues to be keenly aware of anything that flies, especially when it is flying over his head. With the influx of extra food the past couple of days there are a number of ravens in the exhibit looking for opportunities to help themselves. Boltz was observed a couple of hours ago going up the hill to take a chicken away from some ravens and he brought it back to the front of the exhibit to eat it while the ravens watched.

Boltz was engaged when the pack was brought back together. When he and the arctics surrounded Aidan, Aidan made it clear with threat displays that he did not want them around him. At one point Boltz and Axel were doing a bit of an investigation at the rear of Aidan which did not elicit much of a response. Later on Aidan did a full speed charge across the exhibit to run Boltz off of the pump housing where Aidan had food. Boltz left and gave Aidan room after that. While Boltz was aware of where Aidan was at all times he was not focused on Aidan or his wound. He was able to get a good amount of food to eat and is spending today resting in front of the exhibit while he keeps an eye on the ravens.

Aidan – Recurring Issues

Aidan, our dominant pack leader of the Exhibit Pack had a growth removed from his front left leg. Staff have been monitoring its presence for several months, but a sudden change in size prompted the vet care team to decide to remove the growth.   This was a 2nd growth removed in the last 6 months, with the first found to be a low grade mass cell tumor that had not metastasized,  This second growth was adjacent to the first growth, but not connected in the tissue.  He had not shown any clinical signs of illness and staff were diligent in developing a recovery plan to reunite the pack once Aidan gained full mobility from the anesthesia.  Surgery was completed by 8:30 am on Wednesday November 8th the pack was reunited with Aidan still showing strong leadership by 4 pm that day.  The wolf care team will be monitoring pack activity and Aidan’s progress through recovery. This was a particularly poignant surgery as colder temperatures and snowy weather can increase pack intensity, especially testing from the young arctic wolves, Grayson and Axel.  In addition, wolf care staff had a some somber moments as we remembered the loss of Lakota on November 7, 2008…the year Aidan was born. 

If you are interested in contributing to Aidan’s medical expenses or in honor of any of past, current or future ambassador wolves, please consider a gift to the Wolf Care Fund.  On the donation page, under Destination, select the drop down menu box for Wolf Care and include any special comments or memories you would like to share in the comments section.