Shadow is doing great. He seems to really thrive as the dominant male in this pack. He spend a lot of time in social play behavior, especially with Maya and Grizzer. He's very excited to see staff and does stimulate many chase behaviors, encouraging Grizzer to interact. Lori Rhodes visited the Center on November 11th and 12th and contributes this week's photos of the Exhibit Pack.
Shadow survived another program in the wolf yard. This past weekend, we held our first Wolves at Two years program. The group did some work in the pack holding area, removing some hardware cloth that became a safety hazard for the wolves. Participants also assisted with the pond cleaning, a less than desirable job in the summer heat and algae. Shadow did extremely well, with only limited bark howling, expressing dislike of any activity around his pack. He is a strong and confident leader, the pack is lucky to have him. In this week's photo, he shows that confidence after a morning swim, scraping the ground to spread his scent and heading up to the hill with a high tail.
Shadow is clearly the leader of this pack. He is the one Maya runs to when there's howling, Grizzer follows him when chasing Malik and he is first to defend his territory from unfamilar visitors, both wolf and human. He has been actively defending the upper enclosure, pacing along the top fence line at what? we don't know. He has initiated at least a dozen howling sessions in the last few weeks all directed towards the upper enclosure. He also continues to bark howl, a warning sign, towards any Behind the Scenes groups. The only problem with the human groups is his natural intimidation of strangers, he tends to tuck his tail while barkhowling, making him vulnerable to Malik. He shows no fear when howling to the wild stimulus outside of the enclosure.
The pack exhibited many howling episodes this week. Most seemed directed toward the back of the main enclosure, where staff have noticed tracks from several species of wildlife in recent weeks. Shadow initiated most of these howls, and staff noticed a couple of occasions where Shadow was not able to get the rest of the pack to howl with him. He continues to monitor everything that occurs in and around the exhibit.
Shadow was running with Maya and Grizzer yesterday afternoon. He is much more relax, and playing more often. He is patient with Grizzer, who sometimes tries to mount him, or tries to act a little more dominant, but as you see in this week's picture, there's no question who runs the pack. Shadow is patient, but he has his limits.
So sorry for the delay in the wolf logs. Preparation for the Wolf Symposium in Colorado Springs has taken a bit of my time. In addition, protocols and contingency plans during my absence need to be written to ensure that every possible wolf emergency is covered. International Wolf Center members and former nannies, Brian and Ellen Dietz will be driving up from Illinois to spend the weekend at the Center assisting with any pack issues that may arise. I am most grateful for their offer to help keep an eye on the pack. I plan to feed a large deer carcass to both packs on Thursday night prior to my departure. A full wolf is usually a sleepy wolf. Dr Chip Hanson and wolf care staff Matt Fetterer and Jim Ziburski will be monitoring the pack as well.
Shadow is by far the best example of a socialized wolf. He still keeps all of his natural instincts (that is why he might be the best leader for the pack), and he also shows how difficult it is for socialized wolves to transfer bonds. During the curator absence(she was at the wolf symposium), Shadow was seen approaching the fence everytime a car stopped, and howled after confirming it was not the curator. This is a behavior that makes the caring of this animals more challenging. He also shows more dominat behavior when the center is not open, and therefore, no intimidation from the crowd.
Shadow normally is a bit shy during the Saturday night feeding programs. He's the most anxious about strange humans, and the feeding program crowds with camera flashes usually keeps him off the carcass. This past Saturday, Curator Lori Schmidt and assistant curator, Donna Prichard entered the enclosure during the feeding to get video and still camera footage. With the presence of two handlers, Shadow became extremely excited and confident with the program. He stayed on the carcass long into the program and guarded Maya from Malik. There was some good opportunity for footage and images with the new camera, again, many thanks to John and Donna Virr for the camera donation.
If there was ever a doubt that Shadow was in charge of this pack, the staff that witnessed this morning's wolf care can vouch for the status of this animal. Not only did he handle Grizzer's test with ease, he asserted status and gained control over Malik with a glance of the eye, while Grizzer was still pawing at his head. The classic photo from this morning is his passive dominance over Maya who, after a direct stare from Shadow, actively licked his face, then, dropped to the ground in full submission, while pawing him in the face.
This week's wolf logs were written by program participants in the 10/28-10/30/05 weekend program called "Working for Wolves", in which participants performed enclosure enrichment and maintenance projects in both the Retired and Exhibit enclosures. Written by Jill Badyrka and Tom Skorupinski: Shadow's weekend was interrupted by the Working for Wolves program, in which participants entered the Exhibit enclosure to clean the scat and bones, build a retaining wall at the den, and to drain the pond. In order for the participants to enter the enclosure, the Exhibit pack had to be moved into a holding pen, which was initially the outside puppy pen for Grizzer, Maya, and Nyssa. The changes occurring over the weekend provoked agitation, as demonstrated by his frequent bark-howling and pacing. However, after the work was done, he appears relaxed, lying atop his favorite spot above the den.
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.