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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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We acquired Luna as a 20 day old pup, and shortly after her arrival, we noticed that she had some mobility issues. After she suffered an injury from what should have been an non-event for a healthy pup, we discovered that she had a bone density issue that may be related to a vitamin D deficiency. She had surgery to repair her injury at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Hospital and started nutritional supplements specially designed for her needs. Luna is representative of the Great Plains subspecies and is a black color phase, which is believed to be found in less than 5% of the population in Minnesota. Luna was introduced to the Exhibit Pack with Boltz on July 30th and after a few tense hours where Luna chose to run rather than submit to the adults, staff could rest easier as they observed her feeding with the pack, defending food and wrestling with Aidan and Denali in some strong social interactions. As a female pup, Luna will not be as involved in dominance rank order issues with the males, but certainly shows her own status as the lone female in the pack.
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. If I had one word for Luna it would be resilient, followed closely by defiant. She has overcome so much adversity in her life, yet nothing stops this wolf. The defiant piece might be our own fault. In our concern for her physical well-being, we protected her from all dominance, creating a wolf that doesn't seem to have any limits. Aidan's working on it, and might have some results, but as the only female in a pack, she is the dominant female by default.
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| Luna with the juvenile guard hairs that get mistaken for hackles |
| Photo: Center Staff |
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2/1/2013
Lori Schmidt - We have been watching Luna to see if she's going to show and pair bonding behavior this winter. Right now, she's still quite possessive about resources and it's quite understandable that Aidan doesn't show much interest in close personal pairbonding moments. But we did observe some interesting behavior between Denali and Luna, both in a side rest position with their paws wrapped around each others heads. Of course, right after that, Denali got up and tried to steal a deer hide from Luna and she lunged at his head... I think we will have a completely different dynamic with Luna as the dominant female.
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| Luna and Denali in a social hug behavior |
| Photo: Center Staff |
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