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LEARN
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Wolf Media
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Ambassador Wolves
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February - 2013 |
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Aidan and Denali were born on April 27, 2008 and joined the Exhibit Pack on August 4th, 2008. The 2008 pup introduction was very unique for the Center as it was the first time that our Exhibit pack contained three subspecies of the gray wolf and three age groups-the arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos) born in 2000, Great Plains wolves (Canis lupus nubilus) born in 2004 and Rocky Mountain wolves (Canis lupus occidentalis) born in 2008. Aidan was clearly the more submissive of the two pups during the first few years of his life, and was considered a lower ranking wolf. He was often forced to submit by Maya, the dominant female of the Exhibit Pack from 2005 - 2011. After Maya's death, Aidan took on a higher ranking role and was the leader in the introduction of the 2012 pups, Luna and Boltz. Aidan continues to guard the 2012 pups and is quick to show them both dominance and social interactions.
Each wolf in the Exhibit and Retired Pack will have weekly updates posted to reveal their individual personalities and the dynamics of their respective packs, please check the individual logs for details.
For more information on our ambassador wolves, watch extended wolf videos on the International Wolf Center's YouTube Channel or enjoy a close-up of wolf behavior on our Wolf Watch Cams.
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2/8/2013
Lori Schmidt - Someone recently asked me if I had a favorite wolf. Certainly some people may think it's hard not to think of some individuals with a greater concern because of their individual needs, but the reality is, every wolf is different and they all have some unique characteristic to make them special. So, I thought I would dedicate this week's wolf logs to those unique characteristics. Aidan had a tough start as an Exhibit Pack member, Maya was an active dominant female who, in the absence of another female, seemed to focus on Aidan. There were times in his life where his movement was restricted to certain portions of the enclosure, and any indication that he strayed would result in an active pin to the ground. As a yearling, his first set of guard hairs were thin, possibly due to stress, but maybe due to the fact that Maya rolled him into a submissive posture more than any of the other wolves combined. He had scrapes on the back of the legs from being a half step to slow for Maya's stealth interactions. He accepted it as a lower ranking pack member and later began pair bonding with Maya. Now, he leads this pack and his change in status has revealed a calmer, more socially interactive dominant male.
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| Aidan showing Luna some limits to her obnoxious behavior |
| Photo: Center Staff |
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2/1/2013
Lori Schmidt - We've been watching the interactions between Luna and the adult males to see if there is any closer social relationship building as the lone female. It's a bit young for pair bonding of a dominant pair, but we did experience pair bonding between Maya and Shadow by February 2005. Of course, Maya was a bit more mature than Luna is right now. So far, we still see Aidan rolling over for both pups, he is more watchful of their interactions and does show some dominance to both pups. We will continue to watch interactions in the upcoming months to see if pairbonding is going to occur.
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| Denali submissively greeting Aidan |
| Photo: Center Staff |
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