MacKenzie was weaned off the chlomipramine last week, so far, she seems to remain calm. The noise levels across the road has diminished and the twice weekly Behind the Scenes tours are over. This may be helping reduce her anxiety. We will continue to monitor over the next month, but we believe as the exhibit returns to the calm of fall and winter season, she will remain relaxed. We are very diligent about keeping her enclosure quiet and relatively stress free. I know we have had requests to give tours to the retired exhibit, but I hope people understand the importance of keeping the stress to a minimum.
MacKenzie is doing well. She is very trusting of staff, now that we are hand feeding to avoid Lakota's overconsumption. She has finally shed her entire winter coat, and will enjoy a few weeks of cool conditions before stimulated to grow the winter hair back. Staff have noticed a few more subcutaneous lumps on Mac, similar to some existing benign growths that she's had over the last few years.
MacKenzie MacKenzie is also doing well, she doesn’t display as much play behavior as Lakota, but she has good mobility. As I write this, we just fed a large pile of deer scraps, and she’s walking around the enclosure with a chunk of meat, trying to guard food from the every increasing group of ravens
Sorry for the delay in the logs, Wolf Curator, Lori Schmidt was in Anchorage Alaska last week for the Wildlife Society National Meeting and general wolf care was the main priority in her absence. MacKenzie is doing very well on her 2 a-day coated aspirin treatment. Staff had observed some stiffness in her gait as the weather turned cool, but Veterinary recommendations warn against long-term use of anti-inflammatories at her age. Her aspirin is given with meatballs each morning, and she shows no sign of stomach irritation. Of course, wolves are known for hearty stomach linings, as they normally consume carcasses and bone matter with no problems. Not only has MacKenzie's gait improved, her activity has increased and her social behavior with Lakota and wolf care staff is more pronounced. It's hard to grow old, but the wolf care staff are committed to making the age related issues as comfortable as possible.
Wolf care staff have noticed a bit of a restricted gait when MacKenzie moves. It could be an arthritic response to colder weather, but it doesn't seem to have the same appearance as we've observed in the past. Staff video taped her for further study, and a veterinary check has been scheduled for Tuesday. She was weaned off the chlomipramine in August, since the construction noise and traffic around the Center has been reduced. She seems to be remaining relaxed, but does have her bouts of anxiety if there are too many people in the wolf yard. We are making all attempts to keep the traffic away from the Retired Enclosure.
Mackenzie is doing very well, in this week’s video footage, you will see her caching extra moose meat after a recent feeding. She is been much calmer and seems to getting back some courage during feeding time. We no longer have to guard food from Lakota or feed MacKenzie separately as we did in the past. Of course, thanks to the local moose hunters and their discarded scraps, we have plenty of meat for the both of them.
Written by Planning For Pups program participants Cathy Jents, Andi Nelsen, and Laura Walters: Through the Planning for Pups program, we were able to observe the Retired Pack being fed beavers. Mackenzie took her position readily to the corner of the enclosure. The following morning she was notice to have a full belly and was comfortable with weekend participants. Despite the high humidity, she appeared very relaxed and comfortable.
MacKenzie’s dark pelage makes her a bit warmer during the summer months than Lakota. She’s been taking advantage of some of the more shaded areas of the enclosure, such as the log lean-to created by staff. Staff did observe her coming out of one of Lakota’s dug holes in the enclosure. This is new for MacKenzie, she normally stays above ground, but she seemed to have no problem maneuvering out of the hole.
With the Memorial Day holiday, all wolf logs will contain the same text content with different video and images. The most notable event this past week involved a bit of tension between Grizzer and Malik that escalated into a short, but noisy dominance display involving the entire Exhibit Pack. Staff had noticed during the "Workin for Wolves" weekend that Grizzer was stalking Malik, but Grizzer is a bit shy around strangers, so he didn't have too much action in front of the working group. As time went by, this tension was noticeably increasing, and on Thursday morning's wolf check, Grizzer became agitated with Malik and in an instant, forced Malik onto the ground. The entire pack was involved, with varying degrees of intensity, note Maya's hesitant stance. This was Grizzer's way of reasserting that he is now the #2 male on the Exhibit, taking over Malik's role this winter. This interaction is shown in Malik's video. In Grizzer's video, you will see another wolf communication to assert dominance, in a more passive manner. Grizzer is following Malik, causing Malik to be intimidated. When the male rank order has some strife, Maya gets a bit anxious. In her video clip, you will see her seek reassurance from Shadow, and toward the end of her clip, she actually climbs on the rocks to the wolf care staff to get out of the dominance mix. Shadow is watchful of the rank order issues between the #2 and #3 males, as Grizzer may try to increase rank farther by taking him on for the dominant role. But, in Shadow's clip, you do see Shadow with Maya doing a ride-up on him and Grizzer showing submissive ears. The Retired Pack is continuing to do well, as the weather warms, staff are making an extra effort to remove the excess undercoat of hair to help cool them. Lakota enjoys a brushing, Mac is not as enthusiastic. MacKenzie cools herself by finding a shady area in the enclosure or by panting.
Due to the active schedule with the ongoing Wolf Ethology class at the Center, all logs will be the same. Shadow continues to have some issues with groups behind the scenes, so the schedule has been modified for the class, with more observations from inside the observation area. Shadow seems to do much better with this. The weather’s been hot and humid this week, causing the wolves to reduce their activity levels significantly. The biting flies are out and all wolves have been treated with Biospot for fly control on their ears. Grizzer and Maya have completed shedding their dense undercoat, with the exception of some loose hair on their necks and tails. Shadow and Malik, as arctic subspecies are a bit delayed in the shedding and are about midway through the process. Although the Retired Pack members are Great Plains subspecies, they are also delayed in the shedding process, possibly due to their age. Lakota has a growth on her face that has been increasing in size. The Veterinarian has chosen to wait until cooler temperatures before anesthetizing her and removing the growth. He has determined that it is benign, but it may continue to grow. Staff will be watching this carefully and have been cleaning it daily.
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