shadow – Jun 29, 2000 12:00 AM

The wolf puppies made their journey to their new home at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota on June 29. They slept most of the trip minus about 20 minutes of intense playing with each other. The International Wolf Center staff vigorously greeted the pups for about half an hour with enthusiasm displayed from the humans and pups. Nancy Gibson, who raised the pups, greeted the three resident adults wolves to allow them to smell the puppies on her clothing and shoes for the first step of introducing the pups. The adults are also socialized by humans and sniffed every inch of Gibson's apparel. Step two was to bring the pups to the fenceline separating the adults and pups. The adults raced to the fenceline to inspect the pups. The pups were initially scared by the eager canine reception and crawled up on their handlers legs and curled their lips with a slight growl. That didn't deter the adults as they whined and wimpered for the pups. The alpha male, Lucas, fought off his lower ranking packmate for attention from the pups while his body bellowed a welcome whine. The initial meeting was a success. All wolves produce a nurturing hormone called prolactin during the summer to stimulate all pack members to care for the pups. The wolves were living up to their reputation as being good mothers. The pups were then placed in their new spacious enclosure adjacent to the adults with a single fence and dig out wire between them while they are fed several times daily and to finish the critical socialization process. It is important for the adults and pups to watch, smell and hear each other for the next 6-8 weeks before they are placed in the same enclosure. The following day the pups and adults were licking each other through the fenceline. The pups are in view at the Center four times a day. KARE TV followed each step and will air the segment on July 9, 2000.