The logs will all be the same this week. It has been an extremely busy week for the wolf curator between the job at the college and the Center. Wolf care is still done, but all other activities such as email, logs and reports are on the back burner. We had a relatively calm week except the return of the sled dogs created some stress for Shadow. He did some pacing, and in the warmer than average days, he got a bit overheated. He eventually settled down by mid-morning, and was fine the next day. This is the last trip for the dogs, and they will be moving back to their home turf by Wednesday. Aidan was less anxious and a bit more dominant, Denali got very playful, Grizzer howled, Malik ignored everything and Shadow paced. We are in the process of finalizing the Pup Care teams, and will be making decisions and sending notifications by the first week of March. We should return to a full set of logs next week.
The logs will all be the same this week. It has been an extremely busy week for the wolf curator between the job at the college and the Center. Wolf care is still done, but all other activities such as email, logs and reports are on the back burner. We had a relatively calm week except the return of the sled dogs created some stress for Shadow. He did some pacing, and in the warmer than average days, he got a bit overheated. He eventually settled down by mid-morning, and was fine the next day. This is the last trip for the dogs, and they will be moving back to their home turf by Wednesday. Aidan was less anxious and a bit more dominant, Denali got very playful, Grizzer howled, Malik ignored everything and Shadow paced. We are in the process of finalizing the Pup Care teams, and will be making decisions and sending notifications by the first week of March. We should return to a full set of logs next week.
Aidan's had a great week of fresh snow, fresh straw beds and a lot of attention from wolf care staff. Of course, the wolf care attention is never an issue as he guards the staff and keeps Denali away, but he has been more submissive this week, with a lot of active submissive roll overs. This is a positive conditioning piece that we encourage from the time they are pups and is very critical for the upcoming Pup Care Participants to practice on a daily basis. A scratch of the belly gives them positive reinforcement to be submissive to handlers. This is fairly easy when they are pups and appreciated by the staff when the wolves are adults.
Grizzer, Aidan and Denali will be scheduled for a complete medical exam during the first week of March. This is a tri-annual exam that includes a complete blood panel, as well as checking titers for rabies, parvo and lymes disease. This is also a good opportunity to address any issues that we see. Grizzer is showing some dentition wear on one of his premolars. It doesn't appear to bother him based on his ability to devour a pigs ear in only a few minutes, but as long as he is immobilized for his blood work, it's a good time to do dental care.
Shadow's social interactions are like no other wolf. When he was a bit tense about the sled dogs across the road, he didn't visit as much. Now that the dogs are gone, he's going overboard with greetings. It is rewarding to work so closely with this social pack animal and of all the wolves here, Shadow is the most intense social greeting. The other behavior that he displays is the chin rest. In the updated Ethogram due out later this year, Shadow's chin rests are bound to be featured.
Shadow has had a great week. I'm not sure if it's the mid 30 degree temperatures, some fresh snow or no sled dogs, but he is very social and very animated. Which means, he is rolling in the snow, whirling around and inviting Malik to chase, and overall very social with wolf care. His photo this week shows a very contented retiree.
Denali also had a medical exam. He didn't have any real issues except for some butt-scooting that could be related to parasites or scent glands. The fecal sample was normal indicating no parasites, so the vet expressed the scent glands, although didn't find any sign of blockage. The expression of scent glads is normally done through defecation, and is more likely to be expressed with a large volume scat. If Denali wasn't consuming as much, his scats may have been smaller and may not yield enough pressure on the glands. Everything seemed fine, he had his teeth clean and documented some discoloration and on an upper premolar. His weight of 123 lb is in line with a weight of 124 lbs taken last July.
Malik was gnawing on the remainder of their last deer carcass fed a week ago. He continues to use the fresh straw as a caching site, and frequently carries the vertebrae throughout the enclosure. The benefit of feeding carcasses is that the time spent chewing on bones helps reduce tartar build up. We are starting to get some warm days, and with 12 year old bones, the arctics typically soak up the warmth of the sun on the top of the den.
Shadow was the first to show an alert, defensive howl when the wolf care team assembled for Grizzer, Aidan and Denali's medical exam. When more than four wolf care staff get together, Shadow is usually suspect. Of course, being 12 years old, he's seen a few of these wolf care work sessions. we are still using straw in the enclosure as we had a few nights below freezing, but once the temperatures rise, we'll be working equally as hard to provide fresh soil as a cooling spot to lie on the den.
Aidan's results from his biopsy of his nose tissue revealed a diagnosis of discoid lupus erythematosus. We are currently treating this with a course of antibiotics, Vitamin E and Niacinamide (B vitamins). We chose not to use the steroid treatment as his weight is a bit heavier than we would like. As spring approaches, the wolves traditionally lose their winter weight. We will be using this treatment for 3 months and reassess as time progresses. In addition to the oral medications, we will be applying a UV lotion to his nose to reduce the harmful effects of UV rays.
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.