Malik has shown that he's not convinced that Shadow should be running the pack. These brothers continue to posture with each other, showing high tails, growling and pushing each other around. There may be a possiblity that there's a truce to their dominance order. In the wild, where the struggle for survival is so much greater than captivity and the dominant pack members are usually the breeding pair, there wouldn't likely be this kind of uncertainty. In captivity, there's plenty of time to work out differences, and Malik is taking his time and shows very little sign of accepting the # 2 role.
Malik is doing well. He and Shadow still have a bit of dominance posturing, but these are calming down with the onset of spring. In this week's photo Malik provides a young man and opportunity to look in the eyes of a wolf.
Everything is going well here. It appears that MacKenzie has overcome the spinal issues she had earlier and is being weaned off the prednisone. Lakota is still springing around the enclosure as if she were a two year old, instead of a wolf nearing 14 years of age. The male rank order remains calm, with Grizzer and Maya continuing to interact as pupmates, and Shadow maintaining watch over the pack. Malik seems very relaxed and in his video this week is observed with high tail interacting with Grizzer and Maya when they are wrestling, but backs off when Shadow gives him direct eye contact. Thanks for your continued support of the wolf care program. Staff will be monitoring all wolves closely over the coming holiday season and maybe we’ll see you on the webcam.
With Grizzer being a bit more distracted by Maya’s energy, Malik’s world has been quite a bit calmer. This has been good for him and for staff to be able to spend some time with him without drawing attention from Grizzer. In his video, you will see him walk past Grizzer without dropping his tail from the relaxed T3 position. It’s also important to notice that Grizzer’s tail did not rise when approaching Malik. For wolf care staff, this subtle observation speaks volumes to pack compatibility.
The text for all the wolves will be the same. The wolves are enjoying the deer scraps donated by local deer hunters, with scraps arriving daily and wolves feeding opportunities on the increase. This is the time of the year when resources are plentiful at the International Wolf Center. Vermilion Community College student, Nick Budzien, made a trip to the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake Minnesota, where they graciously donated 24 road kill deer to help feed our wolves over the winter. Road kill are much more plentiful in the urban areas in southern Minnesota, than the more remote forested regions of Ely. We do get local road kill, but not in the volume that will sustain the wolves through the winter. The weather is moderately cool, ranging between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit, ideal for both wolves and wolf care staff.
While the video shows Malik with some anxious behavior around Grizzer, he can quickly change to modes when food is in the enclosure. Malik is quicker than any of the wolves in the exhibit pack and often comes away with treats used for enclosure enrichment. Of course, he has a lot of agility training running the logs and navigating the pond rocks when Grizzer follows him. In this week’s photo, you still see a confident omega wolf.
Malik is doing well, Maya’s focus on Grizzer has taken Grizzer’s focus from Malik. We’ve observed several bouts of play where Malik is actively involved, although he does tend to stay close to Shadow. We have noticed Malik and Shadow sleeping together on a regular basis. It’s early in the dominance season, but we are pleased with the pack cohesiveness.
Malik has been sticking very close to Shadow during Shadow’s recent recovery from a knee injury. His confidence is strongly tied to Shadow and they remain very close as littermates. Staff can always tell when Malik is relaxed on the Exhibit, as he will jump on the rock for attention and he presents himself for scratching his back. In his video this week, you will see him walk by Grizzer, displaying submissive ears, but not showing any avoidance behavior. This is important to note and speaks to Malik’s confidence. In addition to the Christmas morning check of the wolves, staff will be monitoring the webcams throughout the day to gauge any issues in the pack. The den cam is a great place to watch the actions of the pack, but also tells us about the comfort level of the pack. The most confident pack members tend to take the top of the den. Usually, it’s Maya or Shadow, but if we see Grizzer on top of the den for several hours that tells us that the arctics may have some issues.
The wolf logs will all be the same today, we would like to thank all of the wolf care supporters this past year. From the significant donations to the Water in the Lab fund to the vitamins and nutritional supplements, straw, squeaky toys, pigs ears, blueberries, tools, jump drives, web cams and many more items that are donated to the lab each year, we are so grateful there are so many people who help support the Retired and Exhibit Pack. There are too many names to mention, but you know who you are. We can always count on you when the wolves are in need. We are happy to report that all is well on this New Years Day, 2008. The Exhibit Pack received 2 frozen fish from a recent fishing trip, one caught by Assistant Wolf Curator, Donna Prichard and one caught by Lori Schmidt, Wolf Curator. Grizzer and Maya enjoyed rolling on them. The retired wolves are doing well, excited about the thawing of two deer legs for a mid-week feeding. The Nanny applications are posted on the website, they can be found on the Programs tab, look in Wolf Seminars or Learning Vacations – Northern Minnesota. We did institute a prerequisite program for the Nanny program this year, we did this based on some experiences that we had in 2004. Wolf pups are not dog pups, and we want to make sure nannies have to skills knowledge and abilities to assist in the socialization process. This is an historic time for the International Wolf Center, 2008 will mark the first time the Center has had three age structures in a pack and we want to make sure the best interest of the pups and the pack in mind as we move forward. If you have questions about the Nanny program, please email the curator directly at curator@wolf.org
Malik continues to be the third ranking male, and is very tuned in to the actions of Grizzer and Shadow. Malik has been observed sleeping with Shadow and has some clear litter mate assocication with Shadow. In this week's video, you will see Malik investigating tree branches in the enclosure (where a tree limb snapped off with the weight of the snow). He is interested in the scent, but a bit jumpy when Grizzer and Shadow interact.
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.