Grizzer has had some great sessions with staff. The benefit of living alone means you get all the food resources and all the staff attention. He's had a tendency to roll over on his back and take advantage of the wolf care who are there to serve. It makes it challenging to get footage, but Grizzer seems to enjoy it. For December, everyone is in a calm and relaxed mood.
If we ever had a doubt about managing Grizzer independently from the Retired Pack, we would only need to watch Grizzer's response when there's any chase behavior in retirement. If Grizzer see's Malik with a high tail, he postures at the back gate with an excitable presence that would not be good for Malik if they were together. Grizzer is still obsessed about dominating Malik and since he's the reason why Malik was retired in 2009, it's too risky for Malik to have Grizzer join them. We know people feel sorry for Grizzer being alone, but when it comes to food resources and bed space, Grizzer gets what he wants when he wants it and there is no competition for staff's attention. In contrast, the Exhibit Pack and the Retired Pack always has some posturing to be the first to greet staff.
The only news from the wolf care staff is the recent snowfall. While Ely didn’t receive as much as other places in the state, the 12 inches of new snowfall adds to the daily care of the wolves. Access to the wolf yard requires a snow blower and all gates need to be shoveled to maintain operability. Grizzer enjoys a good snowfall and finds the opportunity to investigate everything. In this week’s video, you see Grizzer checking out everyone’s food. He isn’t well received by the other wolves, but he keeps wagging his tail.
Grizzer's been having some great stimulus from ravens and two active packs on either side of his habitat. There's been a lot to watch and he is using his den as the perfect view. We have also had some great wolf checks with Grizzer in a full body submission, he's in a complete state of relaxation when he's getting attention from staff (as shown in this week's photo).
Grizzer has been in an unusually playful mood, doing playbows to staff and inviting chase. Of course, it's Center policy that we don't run with or around the wolves as it stimulates a predatory response, but it was enjoyable to be part of the one way chase. Grizzer would playbow, run to the back of the enclosure, come back and playbow again, repeating the chase. He does this to Oscar as well, but it's through the fence. After a 30 minute session, he curls up in his straw bed and takes a relaxing rest. But, if Shadow and Malik start a chase scene, Grizzer is right at the gate in a T2 aggressive tail towards Malik. This reinforces our decision to keep Grizzer and Malik separated.
Grizzer is getting extra attention as every level 2 tier evaluation requires handles to do a full body inspection, massage and conduct some standard grooming techniques. This is all good as far as Grizzer is concerned. He's had many full body massages and submissive roll overs this week and after staff is done, he is back to doing the Grizzer 500, where he runs to the back of the enclosure, comes to playbow to staff then takes off again. He has a spring in his step that is not characteristic of a wolf going on 9 years of age.
Sorry, I forgot Grizzer in the first log postings. It's not like he's a hard animal to forget, at ~125 lbs, he is the biggest wolf on exhibit, of course, we haven't weighed Denali lately, so that may change. Grizzer is still showing no signs of change in rank order. It's hard to determine the position between he and Denali, as almost all of their interactions are social wrestling, there's very few aggressive or tense issues between these two. One thing we have noticed, when Shadow is dominant over Grizzer, Denali makes no attempts to join in, like he does when Maya's engaged in dominance. This must mean that Denali has no interest in taking status from Grizzer, or maybe Shadow is such a strong pack leader, that Denali doesn't want to get involved, either way, it's good for Grizzer.
Staff have been starting to wonder about Grizzer. It's a good thing, but he has been the extremely calm and very content with life. The lack of tension for Grizzer since Malik's retirement has been most noticeable. The only noteworthy issue we have is when we deliver new straw for the top of the dens, Grizzer jumps on the den waiting for us to make his bed. This can be difficult as he takes up so much room, but he's gentle about it, and will get off if we press the issue. His favorite resting spot is the slate den, but we have also observed Shadow on this den, making Grizzer find another place of comfort.
Grizzer seems to have some patterns. When staff try to photograph or film him, he is usually on the slate den. When he isn't on the den, he is wrestling with Denali. Other than that, Grizzer maintains a very submissive posture to Shadow, never seeming to initiate any testing. He is mindful of Maya's current intensified dominance, and has learned to just avoid her. Of course, being Maya's litter mate, he's had more time to figure this out.
Grizzer continues to amaze us with his calm demeanor and seemingly constant attitude to avoid conflict. Grizzer's only behavioral challenge is related to staff raking the straw bed on the slate den. It's his favorite resting spot and if he's on it, he growls at the rake while we are working. So far, a simple push will get him off until we're done. He and Shadow have been observed many times sharing the den.
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.