shadow – May 8, 2006 12:00 AM

The biggest concern over last week's immobilization of the arctics was the influence on Shadow's status. Staff are always aware of the vulnerability of the dominant wolves during any activity. Shadow seems to have had no problems maintaining his status. In fact, the overnight observations by the wolf watch team on Thursday May 5th observed Shadow in high spirits, actively playing with the Grizzer and Maya. It may have been the good feeling of having clean ears or a response to the separation from them, but either way, he holds his tail high, looks alert, led the pack in howls and has a lot of social contact with the pack. In the wild, dominant wolves seem to hold the pack together with this type of interaction.