Malik is doing much better this week. He still has periods of time when the pack activities gets him excited, but he has been much more social with staff and has been chasing ravens. One advantage of living alone is that you don't have to share the resource, with other wolves of course, but ravens still deserve a chase.
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On Friday night, the pack received some venison scraps and a beaver for a program with the Lakehead University Mammalogy class that stayed overnight at the Center. The feeding was later in the evening, and there appeared to be something that startled the wolves over by the retired enclosure. They are quite familiar with wild wolves, and they didn't have the same response, this was more panic. Denali was especially startled and didn't eat, but Maya ran all the way into the retired enclosure with no intimidation. We don't know what was on the other side of the enclosure, but it was interesting behavior.
Aidan's had a tough week, but seems to be starting this week in a better state. Last Monday, staff noticed that Aidan wouldn't come down for his daily meatball vitamin. He was reluctant to come any where near Maya and stayed near the den opening or on the den site. If staff waited for a while and distracted Maya, he would get his vitamin hand delivered by staff in the enclosure. This seemed to be caused by Maya's heightened anxiety. This behavior lasted all week, and even continued today, but with a shorter time for him to relax and interact. It's hard to pinpoint an incident that occurred, it's more likely an indicator of Maya's behavior than of Aidan's behavior, although, as you can see in this week's photo, he's not taking any dominance from her without a threat display.
Aidan had a knee strain and was on 5 days of anti-inflammatory medication, but he is doing well today. He has been reluctant to come to the fence for meds, so staff are designing some new protocol to ensure that he gets his daily vitamins. We have also started him on Cosequin, as his joints get a lot more stress from short bursts of Maya chasing him. He spends most of his time on or in the main densite, but will rally with staff and the pack depending upon tension from Maya. In the Youtube video this week, Aidan is howling with the pack, and even with Maya near the densite.
Malik is doing well, and spends a lot of time watching Denali and Grizzer's interactions. He's frequently with high tail when Denali has a hold of Grizzer. Malik does show very submissive posture towards Grizzer when Grizzer gives him direct eye contact, blocks him or does a face off. It's clear that Malik knows his rank, but he's not so timid that he won't try opportunities to increase in rank. One thing we have noticed, Malik doesn't do any Raised Leg urinations, he primarily does standing or squatting urinations, another sign of a lower ranking wolf.
Aidan has responded well to the anti-inflammatory medication, and while experiencing some restrictive movement based on Maya's attitude, he does manage to get daily meds at the fence, and interacts with the pack. He was laying on the slate den this morning, a sign that he is more comfortable away from the main den. Staff make a point of giving him attention, and fresh straw on the densite makes him very comfortable. The Youtube video this week shows Aidan with many tail wags and relaxation time on the den.
One benefit from Grizzer getting a few extra meals is that he does rest a lot. This is good for Malik, who even took an opportunity to do a partial stand-over Grizzer on the slate den. Malik is doing well, he knows when to posture himself in a low body posture and stay out of trouble, although if Shadow is nearby, he still tries to growl and grab at Grizzer, but with Denali in the mix, he has backed off a bit.
Denali has a good time testing any other wolf that is near him. He is famous for a foreleg stab, where he takes his front leg and thrusts it at another wolf to get attention or invite chase. In this week's Youtube video, he spends a lot of time testing Grizzer who is trying to defend a beaver cache. The whole time Denali is testing, his tail is wagging vigorously, a sign that at least he's enjoying himself.
Grizzer had an interesting observation from a web viewer last week. I received an email from someone that they observed on the webcam that Grizzer had a raven land on his back. Grizzer looked up at it, but didn't do anything to chase it. My response to the email, Grizzer's tabletop back makes a perfect landing strip. Ravens do increase in population around the enclosure during winter, attempting to scavenge on remaining carcasses. There presence is good stimulation for the wolves, and while wolves in the wild rarely kill ravens, captive wolves have caught a raven or two.
We would like to clarify that Maya isn't doing anything wrong when she dominates Aidan, she's just doing what a dominant wolf does. It's important that people learn about wolves, and appreciate wolves from a wolves perspective and not a human perspective. In the wild, females control the dominance rank order of the other females, and this dominance serves as population control keeping lower ranking females from breeding. When an instinct has such a strong connection to survival, it's difficult to calm in a captive situation. Staff may feel sympathetic to Aidan's tension from Maya, but it's important to understand Maya's behavior.
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