Wolf care staff are always analyzing Shadow's activities. We constantly ask ourselves, is he comfortable, showing stiffness, as mobile as the other wolves, tolerant of the heat, tolerant of the attention from the young adults, socially interacting, isolating himself, holding his tail in a relaxed or stressed posture, what's his ear position, are his eyes clear etc. This is the daily thought process to ensure that Shadow's well-being, as a 10-year old in an Exhibit full of young, exuberant pack mates, is the first priority in our care. When the Youtube videos are processed, staff often pick up clues that may be missed while conducting wolf checks.
Shadow is the only wolf that did not receive his annual rabies vaccination. He is so observant, he noticed the syringe within seconds of the cap removal. Last year, we had the same issue, and did a tag team of staff to distract him. A staff person greeted him while the curator laid on the ground and reached Shadow's neck from behind. The challenges of working with a dominant wolf.
Shadow had a bit of a hard time with a Behind the Scenes program recently, showing some intense bark-howling. The hardest part about watching an animal decline is the psychological piece. Physically, it's easy to tell when an animal is weak, but how do you tell if a wolf loses confidence? The first place we start is ear posture, then we watch the tail posture, next comes the interaction, is the animal with the other animals, or does it remain elusive. Hours of observations will be needed to determine Shadow's psychological state before retirement.
Shadow has been great with wolf care staff lately, but on more than one check, the observations have included the term subdued. He greets well, but he is more likely to stand next to wolf care staff and watch the younger animals interact than participate. It is a difficult task interpreting the psychological decline of an animal, but we all know what tired looks like, and that is probably the best way to describe Shadow's behavior in the last week. Staff will be moving forward with the planning stages to transition Shadow into retirement.
The concerns with Shadow continue as he has been showing a lot of behaviors with intimidated ear postures, avoidance behavior with the pack and when the other wolves approach, very intensive dominance. This dominance may be overcompensating for the weakness he is experiencing physically. As Shadow is transitioned to the Retired pack, the staff will be focused on his weaknesses and see if he improves with some restful days.
It's the start of the 25th anniversary celebration weekend, and the Youtube Posting will be delayed until Monday to show some of the weekend events. Shadow continues to have good days when he's interactive, and days when he is completely subdued in behavior. The behavioral cues are flat back ears, his head is held low, he doesn't seek out interactions and he remains aloof with the pack. Maya even did a ride-up on Shadow yesterday in a show of dominance, and Shadow just retreated. The transition to retirement will likely make him more comfortable. Retirement isn't a negative situation when the physical demands are less, and the security and privacy factors are enhanced.
Shadow was transitioned to the Retired Pack on Saturday evening June 26th, 2010. This was a planned transition in response to behavioral indications that he was having difficulty interacting with the younger pack members. The June 27th Youtube video posting showed increasing aggression with any interactions, possibly caused by a pain response or intolerance for the intense physical contact of younger pack mates. The transition to retirement was extremely smooth, and the remaining Exhibit Pack members showed very little activity surrounding the pack holding area on the night of the move or in subsequent days since the move. This may indicate that the pack had identified his weaknesses long before the transition to retirement. The reintroduction of Malik and Shadow was smooth without any incidents, and the Exhibit Pack remains calm. We will continue to monitor the activity of the wolves with the Ethology class that is currently on site, and will have more detailed footage of the event in the next YouTube video.
While Shadow did maintain his position as the dominant wolf over the winter, he did loose a bit of status. He is actively working to gain that respect back. Shadow does this not by force or by the constant growling like Malik, he does this by body posture, tail posture, and direct eye contact. The most interesting to watch, is Shadow’s pattern of cohesive social interaction. When all the wolves are sleeping, Shadow is usually the first to rise and sniff a nose or does a play bow in front of another wolf to encourage them to get up and interact. He has a way of inviting activity and spends a lot of time rubbing up against the other wolves followed by a drop to the ground and a submissive paw to encourage them to roll around on the ground with him. It’s these subtle characteristics of confidence and desire to socially interact with his pack that make him a strong leader. We hope he can continue to hold his status over the next winter; he will be a great role model for the 2008 pups.
Even though Malik’s photo shows Grizzer submitting to Shadow, in a photo taken minutes later, Shadow needs to use a bit more vocalization and eye contact to remind Grizzer that he’s number two in the pack. In Shadow’s video, you will see Shadow taking a dip in the pond, of all the wolves in the Exhibit, Shadow does spend more time swimming than any of the other wolves. Notice, Malik skirts the edge and doesn’t care much for getting wet.
Shadow’s been demonstrating strong pack leadership as he moves to increase any status he may have lost over the winter months. As a leader, Shadow shows strong leadership characteristics. These behaviors include: • Being the first to lead the pack in a howl • Positioning his body at the fence line for any perceived threat • Greeting each pack member with facial licks or a rub under the chin • Encouraging social activity with a play bow • Using direct eye contact and body postures to show dominance In this week’s video, you will see a behavior termed a stand over. This behavior involves a dominant wolf approaching a subordinate, and standing over the head of the subordinate. It’s a subtle way to say, who’s in charge of the pack.
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