This will be the new format for wolf logs. Each individual wolf will have a status report on a weekly basis. Please be patient with us while we transition to these logs. The puppies take a lot of our time. Malik has been showing interest in the pups along with Shadow, but Malik's limited fear of strangers means he's at the window more often than Shadow. The pups presence on site has certainly increased the visitors chances of seeing the adult wolves.
People often wonder how to tell Malik and Shadow apart. On this photo, you can clearly see the raised hair or cowlick on the middle of his nose.
Fly ointment was applied to all adults, but the yearlings are very reluctant to have ointment applied. Malik is still obsessed with stealing the container from wolf care staff. Vitamins to all wolves."
Malik was very playful with the pups during the morning hours. At one point he ran down from the den and all the pups followed him and he then flopped down near the pond and submissively pawed at the pups. Malik did show some interest in the beaver carcass the pups were feeding on, but he did not disturb them and left the carcass alone. At one point during the day Malik gave chase to Maya and pinned her down for several seconds where he nibbled her genital region and stomach without harming her. As fall approaches and the Curator goes back to full-time employment at the college, wolf logs will be posted only once a week.
There has been a significant increase in the comfort level of all pack members. The biggest change has been in Malik. He is exhibiting much more interest in the pups. For the first time, he self-inititated a submissive rollover to Maya and Grizzer. He also allowed them to crawl on him. He is showing more ears forward than he has in the past 2 days. When Maya and Grizzer were resting , Malik laid near them. Maya wiggled closer and laid touching Malik.
Pond was drained today, wolves were fine, but Malik tried to remove several of the tools used to disconnect the pump. Attempted to move large white pine log from top of enclosure to place across pond. This would allow the wolves an opportunity to climb and chase each other across the pond, unfortunately the log was too big for wolf care staff to drag, will try again when there's snow on the ground. The more stimulus the better, so several more logs and trees will be brought in before summer.
As we predicted, Shadow and Malik were rather intense towards Mackenzie between the fence this morning prior to their release back in the enclosure. We will likely not isolate again unless there is another emergency. When the yearlings spend time together, they seem to re-enforce each other and are more likely to tag team. Things were calm all day, although Shadow and Mac are avoiding each other. We have decided to reduce any stimulus that resulted in a fear response from Mackenzie. We reduced any outside visits to the fence except by wolf care staff, approved students and interns. We also are back on a routine of regular wolf checks. There is a noticeable difference in Mackenzie's behavior when she gets attention from wolf care staff, she is much more confident and shows much less fear response toward Shadow.
Evening feeding program was less than exciting. All wolves disinterested in food and carcass was left untouched at 7 pm. This is due to the fact that during the isolation of the yearlings and subsequent reuniting of the pack, we decided to keep an unlimited food supply so aggression over food wouldn't contribute to an already tense situation. Now that things are calm, the feeding schedule will resume to the normal pattern of once a week carcasses. The unseasonably warm days in November also contributed to the lack of interest in new food, generally we have a lot of snow on the ground and cold weather that stimulates interest in food. Weather, behavior of wolves and amount of food available make it difficult to predict how a feeding program will progress.
Good interactions with all wolves, vitamins to all. There were 2 additional signs of digging by electrical boxes wolf care staff filled them with rocks to secure the area. The addition of the pond will certainly keep the yearlings occupied. The wolf care staff will begin the task of developing enclosure enrichment projects to occupy the high energy yearlings through the winter.
Cooler weather brings more play behavior for pups Fall colors peaked this week and provided for good backdrop for photographs First snowfall of the year on 6 October, entire pack stimulated to play Pups weighed on 6 October, both pups weighed 62 lbs. Nancy Gibson and Dave Mech visit the center and have good interaction with the pack The wolves were very playful this week as the weather got cooler. Nighttime lows were down in the 20's and the pups seemed well suited for these nights. One of the Wolf Care staff described the pups as "rammy". Malik got his foot caught in the gate trying to get into the pack holding area. After several seconds of distress, he freed it. Those paws are getting bigger and don't fit in the places that they used to. Of course, Malik's whining in distress brought Lakota immediately over to see if she could take advantage of his situation, but the Wolf Curator stepped in and helped Malik maintain control. As the weather changes, so does the clothing requirements of the handlers. The pups are getting familiar with wool gloves on handlers hands, and all of the extra "hide" the handlers need to work in the enclosure. The pups have been videotaped and photographed with the backdrop of red maple leaves and the yellow hue of Aspen, but it was the first snowfall of the year that made the staff get the cameras. The first snowfall of the year came on Friday afternoon, October 6th. The entire pack was stimulated and were observed rolling in the snow and jumping at low hanging branches which resulted in snow dropping on their heads. The pups are well suited for winter conditions and their thick pelage seemed to shed the wet snow with much more efficiency then the adults.
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.