Accommodating Diets

We have always known that Luna is different and she will have special needs throughout her life. In the latest blood work, her vitamin D levels were not as good as we have had in the past, so we are trying a new plan. We need Luna to eat a well rounded, vitamin filled meal every day. This is completely different the the normal wolf diet of gorging with stomach receptors allowing them to eat 20% of their body weight in one sitting. Luna, likes to do that and will obviously be a pack feeder on the weekly carcass, but we need to address some special dietary needs for Luna and not have so much excess food for Aidan and the boys. This requires some changes. We needed to redesign a concrete pad at the gate to allow for multiple wolves to linger while Luna is getting her morning meal. There had been rocks in this gate location and we want to make sure that Luna has a smooth surface for interactions and feeding. Secondly, we need to make sure we havef 2 wolf care staff for morning meds to distract the other wolves while Luna gets her special diet. We only started a week ago and we already notice her building some body fat and muscle as we approach the winter season.

Vitamin D

Luna started some additional vitamin D supplements and is taking an additional feeding every morning of a canned food designed specifically for joint health. We are looking at every aspect of supplement and treatment to make sure she stays active and healthy as we approach this winter. It’s been our experience that the winters between a wolves first and 2nd years are the most challenging. Luna, at the top of the rank order as the dominant female, will likely be involved in most activity. In addition, given Luna’s love of food, she has even more chances of physical interactions. Although, she is very good at possessing things. As I write this, she is sleeping under the eaves with last night’s deer carcass and not allowing any other wolf in close range.

No New News

The logs are all the same this week. As the curator, I work full time during the summer months and when I return back to school, my hours are reduced to part time status of 20 hours a week. Friday was my first day back, so the Friday routine of Youtube and log postings was affected. I hope to return to the Friday schedule as I get settled into a routine, but the 20 hours are dedicated to wolf care, and combined with other wolf care staff, the wolves won’t notice a change in schedule. As far as the wolves, we have had a very calm, socially active week. It’s also been over 80 degrees, which might have an influence on behavior. I will be back to posting individual logs next week.

Gaining

Luna put on a few more pounds this week and we are always discussing nutrition to maximize her growth. We took a blood sample last week that revealed some more work is needed with vitamin levels for Luna and we are actively working on supplements. Unfortunately, Luna has to be willing to take them, and that is not the case. As you watch video clips of Luna, you may see that strength is not an issue, she seems to be able to pull all 138 lbs of Denali off his feet. We don’t have weights for Maya at this age; unfortunately, we didn’t acclimate the pack to scales like we have done for this group of Exhibit Pack members. It seems every litter we raise, we improve on the core management issues. But, Maya was weighed as a yearling as 79 lbs and by the time she was a 4-year old wolf, she weighed 93.5 lbs. We hope we can meet the same goal for Luna.

Check Up

On Tuesday morning, we took Luna (under chemical immobilization) to the Vet clinic for a set of x rays and blood work. This was a follow up to her medical issues with the femur fracture, bone density and nutritional deficiencies she faced as a pup. The good news is, the plate is solid and is still in alignment as it was installed in May of 2012. The issue we have is that the head of the femur looks like it did not form correctly and is not aligning well with the hip socket. This is probably causing the limp and discomfort that she feels. We are looking at management options on days when she seems to have a comfort issue, but as this week’s Youtube video shows, she is extremely active and shows very little limitations.

A Nip or Two

This entry was written by visiting Wolf Care Staff Volunteer, Cameron Feaster. Though Denali would not likely challenge Aidan outright for the position of dominant male in the exhibit pack, he never seems to miss an opportunity to get a nip in here or there during a dominance interaction between the yearlings and Aidan. During one of these interactions this week, when Aidan’s excitability caused him to be the focus of Boltz and Luna, Denali was seen at the edge of the interaction, moving in to get a nip or two on Aidan while he was distracted with the yearlings.

Giving Thanks

I would like to thank all of the members and donors who support our educational mission at the International Wolf Center. I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and would like to report that all of the wolves are doing well. We have some great pack interactions as the winter begins and our wolf care staff are so honored to work with these incredible ambassador wolves.

Tail Wags

The topic for Denali this week is tail wags.. There were several observations of Denali this week watching a wolf from across the enclosure, making direct eye contact and stimulating them to stalk and chase him. These are all very social behaviors and even though they might result in a chase, the results are submissive and calm.

Mild Mannered

We cannot say this too many times. We are so fortunate that our largest wolf is the most mild mannered wolf on the Exhibit. Denali likes to wag his tail, greet the rest of the pack and stay out of the yearlings line of sight when they are jaw sparring. He is completely submissive to Aidan and just a look from Aidan will result in Denali dropping his head to the ground and submitting. While at the International Wolf Center Symposium in October, I listened to some great presentations about the dynamics of the Yellowstone wolves and how each wolf had a different personality. We can attest to that and it’s why we believe in a socialized wolf exhibit that helps demonstrate that part of wolf life that people seem to forget.

Avoiding Conflict

Denali can certainly get excited about pack dynamics, but fortunately, when the tension increases, he tends to avoid conflict. He has been described as a gentle giant, and to those of us who have the privilege of working with him on a daily basis, we couldn’t find a better description. Denali has the most animated tail wag, often engaging one of the yearlings from across the enclosure.