To those of you who are concerned with Lakota as the lowest ranking pack member, she is doing well. The increased dominance on the pups by the alpha's has given Lakota a bit more freedom in the enclosure, since Shadow is being watched more closely by Mackenzie.
The cold weather in the middle of summer, was a nice opportunity for Lakota to run and play bow at Mackenzie during the morning. In the afternoon, the hot weather made them go inside their den boxes. This is one of the rare pictures of the three of them inside their dens. Later, Lakota became active again and continued to dig in her favorite den.
Wolves fed scraps of meat and bone donated from local deer hunters. Lucas chased Ravens off the scrap pile, then becomes playful toward puppies and stimulates them to chase him. When Lakota chases him and bites him, he puts an end to the interaction." Malik gets dominated more severely, since he doesn't end interaction as quickly as Shadow.
Vitamins to all wolves, Lakota very submissive around the yearlings and avoided the front of the enclosure until vitamins were fed. Staff filled Lakota's tunnel since electrical contractors need to be in the front of the enclosure wiring for the pond.
Fence construction for the new retirement pen was completed today; there are a few more gates which need concrete. The wolves should be ready to move by Monday, October 21st.
Assistant Director, Gretchen Diessner did morning CVC. Lakota came down to fence by office without a problem, and then headed back to the upper enclosure when yearlings were released. Yearlings did not go to the top of the enclosure looking for Lakota and all remained quiet.
All's well in retirement, not much to report. New straw, warm weather and sunny days makes for a good day when you're nearing 13… Lakota still likes a good chase around the enclosure and uses the log bench to climb on the den box.
Lakota and MacKenzie shared a deer this week, and Lakota’s video demonstrates classic wolf behavior of plucking the hair and pulling the skin from the meat. They have amazing power in their front incisors to strip a deer of the hide. Lakota continues to show good mobility and excited behavior that leads to a few laps around the enclosure.
Lakota's been doing well, despite MacKenzie having a bit of a relapse on Christmas Eve day. MacKenzie and Lakota still interact, but there isn't much chasing around the pen from MacKenzie anymore. Lakota usually displays excited behavior when staff enter and she makes a few laps around the enclosure. In this week's video, you will see Lakota enjoying a beaver.
CVC to all but Lakota. Lakota remains up in the upper den hole and is reluctant to come out. Rather than traumatize her more by forcing her out of the den in order to move her to the pack holding area (see 2-14-02 log entry) staff decide to give her some time to come out on her own and continue to feed, water and monitor Lakota. Curator Lori Schmidt (LS) delivered vitamins to Lakota later today; Lakota is very defensive about any wolf or human at the entrance to the den hole. She instantly growled at LS as she was offered food and vitamins. When Lakota feels more comfortable, she will be moved to the pack holding area for some rest and recuperation."
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.