Shadow is doing well and the pack seems to be very calm. He has been observed showing play behavior towards Grizzer and certainly Maya. It is with high tail and confidence that he walks through the enclosure, and when necessary, his vocalizations remind Grizzer of his rank. He is a great example of a pack leader and we are so looking forward to the pup introduction in the upcoming year.As a reminder, the Nanny and Behavioral Team applications are on the website under the Programs tab… the deadline is February 1st.
Shadow did amazingly well with the construction crew. He didn’t bark howl once and actually came down many times to watch the construction project. For the last two days of the project, the wolves were so relaxed with the contractors that they didn’t require sedation. We are so thankful that the contract bid was awarded to contractors who were truly concerned with the wolves’ well being, and who remained calm and quiet in the wolf yard despite the fact that they were running equipment. It’s hard to predict what’s going to make Shadow feel threatened, one thing we do know, is that when the contractors first came to the site for the pre-construction meeting, they didn’t walk right up to the fence, didn’t have cameras and followed the direction of the wolf curator. With this process, the wolves seemed to accept that the two contractors were part of the wolf care program.
Shadow and Maya have a very strong bond with each other. On the first night after the medical exam, while Maya and Nyssa were held in an adjoining enclosure for recovery, Shadow frantically bark-howled and stayed next to the holding area all night long. Maya showed an equal amount of anxious behavior to return to Shadow and the pack. His behavior continues to be that of an alert, cautious member of the pack that responds to situations out of the norm. Maya has been extremely submissive to Shadow since the loss of Nyssa and continues to show active submission, active licking of Shadow's mouth with a completely submissive body posture. Shadow seems to be instigator of the howling in the pack, but all members join in.
Staff recently commented that Shadow is again back to his playful, social self. Over the winter, he tends to get very dominant and very particular about who he'll greet. He's been known to barkhowl at visitors Behind the Scenes, and to remain aloof when staff enter the enclosure. He's been observed demonstrating play bows to the pups and encouraging them to chase him. He's known for a full body tail wag when he's in a good mood.
Shadow’s doing better this week than he has in previous weeks. The construction to the lab is done, there haven’t been any Behind the Scenes groups, and Maya is paying him the respect of a dominant animal. All of these circumstances have led to a more relaxed confident dominant male, as his video clip demonstrates. During today’s wolf check, he was feeding on the deer carcass and took a leg with him toward the front of the exhibit. Maya watched him from on top of the den, came up and did a full greeting, licking Shadow’s face, he dropped the deer leg and she ran off with it back to the den top. Wolf camera viewers should be seeing more activity on the den cam, as this is the preferred spot for the wolves to rest in winter
Shadow's had a bit of activity this week. As we referenced in Grizzer's logs, Shadow's had some unexpected testing of his status. Initially, it took him by surprise, and he was very submissive about it. After about a day or two, he was more relaxed and spent time socializing with Grizzer and Maya, reinforcing his status socially, and when necessary, with a hard muzzle bite. Staff are very conscientious of the behavior of the wolves prior to entering the pack. Shadow continues to be social with the staff, and we are doing everything possible to make sure he doesn't have external stress that makes him vulnerable. This will be increasingly critical with the upcoming "Working for Wolves" weekend. From past experience, Shadow is tense with so many people in the wolf yard.
It’s easy to determine when Shadow’s having a bit of anxiety. In this week’s photo, he’s anxious about Grizzer behind him. The use of facial expressions, ear postures and eye contact is very critical in canid communication. But, as you see in this week’s video, Shadow is relaxing as Grizzer’s testing seems to be calming. Shadow is doing a behavior termed a snowplow. This is where wolves push the snow with their nose, then roll to the side and sometimes roll over on their back. This may be a grooming function, as it’s observed after carcass feedings when they may have blood on their nose, but it also appears to be an expression of relaxation.
It would be safe to say that Shadow approves of our newest wolf care staff member, Walter Loesberg. Shadow has been very receptive to Walter's presence and has been very exuberant in his greetings to Walter during wolf checks. For a nine year old wolf, he is doing very well and shows no signs of being ready for retirement. We must, however, always be alert and watchful of signs that retirement is impending; it is inevitable. As wolves age, we monitor physical and physiological health, changes in pack dynamics and the heiarchy, and most importantly, psychological health. Our top priority in wolf care has been and will always continue to be, quality of life and what is in their best interests.
The video for most of the wolves is focused on an incident with Shadow that was result of some intense dominance between Aidan and Maya, then between Grizzer and Malik. Shadow started a howl after wolf care, Maya became excited and dominated Aidan, and then Grizzer chased Malik. Shadow put an end to all the chaos by dominating Grizzer with some severity and hackles, and then Maya came over and did appeasement behavior towards Shadow. The only problem that we saw was that while Grizzer was being put back in his place, Denali took advantage of Grizzer and Shadow didn’t dominate Denali. Although, later Denali was observed in a very submissive posture. Some days, Shadow has had enough with this pack. We weighed the wolves this week and Shadow is down to 88.6 lbs from an April weight of 84.66. This is certainly a concern to lose 4 lbs in 3 months, but it could be age related or the stress of being dominant with this pack.
We were a bit concerned with Shadow after he seemed disinterested in food on Sunday – Tuesday. We changed the surveillance cameras to constantly record rather than record only motion. He was even resting in the den with an unusually "rest on side" posture. At this age, any subtle difference is worth noting and recording. He seems fine today, it could have been the upper 70's and 80 degree temperatures we had last weekend. Heat stress can take a toll on a wolf with a full winter coat, far more problematic than in the middle of summer when they have shed all their undercoat. The forecast for tomorrow is a high of 49, a great temperature for an arctic wolf.
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