Programs, Programs

I have not updated this recently because nothing too serious has been going on. The other interns and I  have been rotating back and forth between two different programs: Meet the Pack and Mystery in the Sky. There have been a few occasions where groups have come in to stay overnight, which requires a different program or two, but I personally have not dealt with such an occasion yet. So, as said, I have bounced back and forth between the two programs mentioned above. Until June 13th, which is when more programs will be added to our schedule, we have given the Meet the Pack program at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm while Mystery in the Sky is given at 2pm; all of which are daily (Mon-Sun). We each get two days off per week, back to back generally, but rather than exploring I have spent my days indoors.

A lot of people probably wonder, does such a thing exist for wildlife people? Truly it does. I just wanted to relax and enjoy my time in the dorm with my laptop or a good book. Lately I have dived into Sigurd Olson's "The Singing Wilderness" and truly enjoy it. I recommend those who enjoy "nature-style" readings to pick up his works. I thoroughly enjoy his writing because you actually feel as though you are right there with him; experiencing everything he sees, the sights, the smells, weather, everything. Thank you again, Lynn Holtzmen, for recommending Sigurd. I have heard his name thrown around dozens of times since I have been in Ely. It's neat to actually see where Sigurd has been in comparison to Ely. One day I hope to go to "Listening Point", his actual shack. My goal is to read all four of the books sitting on my desk before I actually do. That way the experience will be cherished more when I visit.



Anyway, getting back to the programs, I recall promising everyone that I was write out biographies about the wolves or at least tell you about them. Due to being an education intern, I will not have the chance to actually physically handle the wolves or be in the same enclosure as them. However, we will eventually be meeting them during a "Behind the Scenes" event coming up on June 11th. Honestly, I am not mad at all about the fact we are not working with them directly because the ability to see the wolves daily and observe their behaviors from a sort of distance is truly rewarding as is. I also enjoy giving programs about them as well and seeing the expressions on people's faces when the wolves come out and show themselves. Don't get me wrong, if the opportunity ever came about where I was able to physically work with wolves in general - I would be all over that job in a heartbeat.

Meet the Pack

First things first, please forgive me for the poor quality of these photos. A smart phone isn't necessarily that smart when it comes to photography. One of these days I will whip out my digital camera and hopefully snap a few good shots of the wolves. When that day comes I will try to include some, or all, of the photos in this blog at some point.

Exhibit Pack

There are currently four wolves in the Ambassador Pack - Aiden, Denali, Boltz, and Luna. These four wolves can be seen by the public eye through a good sum of windows within the center. The pack's enclosure contains two dens, a pond, rocks, and a variety of trees. The public can easily see the wolves from two sides of the enclosure but cannot see them behind a tree line or in one of the two dens. Sometimes the wolves blend in so much, when lying down, that they do not stick out like a sore thumb and are sometimes overlooked in general due to their camouflage. All wolves at the center were obtained from a licensed USDA facility, due to the IWC being a non-breeding, educational facility, and have been spayed and neutered since then. Each wolf was socialized by humans on a 24-hour basis to get them used to people. 

Although the wolves are socialized, they are not domesticated. They have simply been socialized so that people can look at them without them running away in fear, like most wolves would. Wolf care staff is capable of entering/exiting the enclosure without knocking out the wolves with drugs due to the amount of time they spent socializing the wolves. Pups are included in the enclosure when they are 3 months old. The adult proceed to take care of the pups, and show them how to survive in the pack, from that point forward.

Aiden and Denali

Aiden (left) and Denali (below) are true litter mates, both born in 2008, and are actually directly linked to the wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Back when the Yellowstone wolves were first introduced, the population was given an "experimental, non-essential" status. This meant that a pack began depredating on livestock, the US Fish and Wildlife Service had the authority to kill that pack. Pups were excluded from this authority due to the fact pups usually did not participate in hunts, directly. Of course the pups were subject to death anyway due to losing everyone that would take care of them so, they were taken to a licensed facility to be raised. Aiden and Denali's father was one of the pups who was taken in and later sired in captivity; creating Aiden and Denali. This means they are one generation removed from the wild wolves in Yellowstone. 

 Aiden and Denali  are both considered "Northwestern" subspecies of Gray Wolf. There are only two species of wolves in the world; Gray Wolf and Red Wolf. Everything else you have heard (Artic, Timber, Great Plains, Mexican) are all considered "subspecies" of Gray Wolf. Subspecies are usually categorized based on their physical adaptions and geographical location. Due to the fact Aiden and Denali are "Northwestern" subspecies, they are typically a bit larger than wolves found in Minnesota. All wolves were weighed in May and will be weighed again this upcoming Friday, June 13th. Aiden weighed 126lbs and Denali weighed 135lbs. The largest wolf ever recorded, I believe in the wild, was 175lbs. Aiden is considered the "Dominant Male" and Denali is considered the "2nd ranking Male".

Boltz and Luna

Boltz (right) and Luna (below) were born in 2012 and are actually not true litter mates. Usually two pups are placed together so they both have someone to rely on in the future. Wolves have a social hierarchy that consists of two dominants wolves (male and female respectively) and the rest of the wolves being subordinates. In a wild pack, the two dominant wolves are the breeding pair while the rest of the wolves pups or dispersal wolves, whom left their own pack to find a mate or new pack, and were allowed into the pack. In captivity, strangers are usually placed together and it is important to have alliances. They alliances you may are what help you become a good pack mate; dominant male/female or not. If you are not accepted into the pack then you are usually forced to disperse or the wolf will disperse on their own. Alliances help make acceptance easier.

It just now dawned on me that I do not have any good pictures of Luna. Out of all four of the pictures shown so far, this is one is by far the worst. Next time she passes by, at a suitable range, I will snap a picture of her because this one is terrible. Anyway, Boltz and Luna are considered "Great Plains" subspecies; a subspecies that is found right in Minnesota. This subspecies used to have the largest range throughout North America but back in the 1930's, humans eradicated the species and it was believed to be extinct until wolves were found in northern Minnesota. Since then, the wolves in northern Minnesota have spread to northern
Wisconsin and upper peninsula (U.P.) Michigan. There are roughly 3,600 individuals living in these states. The "Great Plains" subspecies of wolves are typically smaller than the "Northwestern" species. Luna weighed in at 80lbs while Boltz weighed in at 115lbs. Males rarely get above 95lbs in the wild and females usually hang around 60lbs. Boltz is considered the "3rd ranking male", or lowest since there's only 3 males, and Luna is the "Dominant Female" by default. Due to being the only female, Luna enjoys stirring the pot, or causing trouble, and lives to dominate the other males - who usually just ignore her.

Retirement Pack

Once the wolves reach old age in the wild, if they even make it that far, they will usually disperse away from their pack and live their finals days to years alone. Due to being in captivity, the wolves are surrounded by a fence and therefore do not have this option which means wolf care staff is responsible for "dispersing" wolves by retiring them into a different enclosure. In some cases, wolves were retired due to physical decline. Young wolves, between the age of 2 and 3 years, begin to reach their teenager phase where they have raging hormones and start to become testy. Sometimes the older wolves cannot keep up with these younger wolves and for the safety of both, young and old, the older wolves are retired. Wolves who are dominant usually deal with more stress than those who are not because they are responsible for keeping the pack in order; like any true leader. Needless to say, a number of factors can play when it comes to whether or not a wolf is retired. The wolf care staff has enough experience to determine the best time for retirement.

Not my Photo, Taken from IWC website.

The two wolves currently in retirement are Shadow (right) and Grizzer (bottom). Shadow's brother, Malik, recently passed away this past March. Due to this, there was a period where Shadow was eating less and howling more due to possible grievance. Losing a pack mater tends to drastically affect the wolf's behavior. The good news is, Shadow has been eating more and howling less lately so things are starting to return to normal. Shadow is a 14 year old wolf, born in 2000, and was considered the "Dominant Male" during his adult years while in the Exhibit pack - before retirement. Shadow is an "Artic" subspecies that is usually found in the Tundra - Canada/Alaska.

Not my Photo, Taken from IWC website.

Grizzer (left) is a 10 year old wolf that was born in 2004. He maintained his status as "2nd ranking male" until his retirement in 2011. Just like Luna and Boltz, Grizzer is a "Great Plains" subspecies. Grizzer was retired due to the loss of his littermate, Maya, and it appeared Grizzer was losing confidence in his status. Without the dominance of his litter mate, he could not compete with the younger pack mates. There was a possible plan to reintroduce Grizzer and Shadow as one retirement pack but Grizzer showed food possession towards Shadow and therefore the two remain separated. When wolves have aged, the less competition they have for food and the ability to relax is very beneficial to their health. The longest a wolf has lived in captivity, at IWC, is 15.5 years. In the wild, the average lifespan for wolves is 2.2 years. If a wild wolf survives that average, they usually do not last longer than 6 to 8 years in the wild. The reason our wolves survive longer is due to vet care and monitoring, no competition with wolves from other territories, decreased risk of human intolerance or interference (such as poaching, habitat destruction, etc), and they do not have to deal with the possibility of starvation. All the wolves at the center are currently healthy and well.

Although the retirement pack cannot be seen by the public, there is still the chance of seeing Shadow online at the International Wolf Center's website: http://www.wolf.org

There are live stream webcams set up to watch the Exhibit Pack and Shadow. There is currently not a camera set up for Grizzer but hopefully one will be installed down the road.



Although you guys cannot meet these wolves "in person", I hope watching the webcams and reading about them will be sufficient. Of course, if you ever have the opportunity, come up to Ely, Minnesota to visit the wolves and staff! They are more active in the winter so that is the best time to see them during the day (if you can handle the cold and snow). On the website is Wolf Logs where staff periodically updates the public on how the wolves are doing. They are worth checking out as well to get a feel for the wolves and their behaviors.



Other news I wanted to share, I will be taking a 2 credit course hosted by our curator (and my hirer) Lori Schmidt. I'm super excited! The course is Biology 1476: Wolf Ethology and occurs June 14-19. The course covers the basic principles of wolf behavior including: behavioral development, stimuli and communication, motivation, learned versus instinctual behavior, social organization, and the adaptability and evolution of behavior. Emphasis will be placed on video observations of wild wolf behavior, research of existing ethograms, and hands-on activities including time spent observing and recording behavioral data of the Center's ambassador wolves.

How cool is that? I am able to transfer the credits as well. Surely Rio Grande University will accept them. If not, oh well, who can say no to knowledge? We may use radiotelemetry on wild wolves as well and there's a howling trip planned. Super, super excited!