PROGRAMS

This podcast discusses the management protocol implemented at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. It discusses the management practices and staff that keep the Exhibit Pack of ambassador wolves healthy and compatible.

This podcast describes the behavioral categories that best align with the ethogram codes, and provides a narrative description of the data results from the summer Ethology course, and the planning for pups weekends which each had a data collection component. This data analysis is critical to help the wolf care team determine the pack's current state of tension or cohesiveness and overall well-being.

This podcast provides a narrative of the weekly feeding program called What's for Dinner, live from the enclosure as the feeding occurs.

Since the pup introduction in the fall of 2008, the pups have influenced the pack dynamics significantly. The greatest influence was on Grizzer's tolerance and lack of maintenance of his second ranking status. As winter progressed, Malik the 3rd ranking male continued to test Grizzer and looked for weaknesses, by May of 2009, Grizzer had enough testing and reaffirmed his rank as the 2nd ranking male. Here the perspective of the Curator describe this situation.

This podcast reviews the data completed by the Vermilion Community College Intro to Ethology course offered during the spring semester 2009, with the data gathered in the same course in 2007. It is interesting to see the change in behavior. The data collection process has changed dramatically with the award of the HP Grant, providing 21 HP Tablet PC's for ease of data collection and reference to the Interactive Ethogram. While there is a lot of analytical data in this podcast, it is interesting to listen to the interpretation of this data, as the wolf care staff try to project the changes to pack dynamics and the ultimate retirement of Shadow and Malik.

Spring is a busy time in wolf care; For the wolves, it means their annual vaccinations are administered. For wolf care staff, it means trying to determine the right conditions to subcutaneously inject vaccinations without drawing the curiosity of the wolves to the syringes, staff holding the syringes or to each other. Staff wait for the warm spring days, when wolves in their winter coats, would rather lounge and stay cool than be active. Spring also involves a lot of work getting the many straw bales provided for warmth in the winter, raked up and hauled out to encourage new vegetative growth. This podcast discusses the issues related to vaccinations and the designated protocol.

This podcast discusses the feeding, nutrition, scat and parasitological conditions facing the captive wolf management program at the International Wolf Center. This podcast was recorded in the lab, the freezer and in the wolf enclosure. The impending snowstorm and wind conditions are heard in this broadcast as audio was recorded in the wolf enclosure. Denali is a bit possessive of anything in our hands, so there are a few moments, when Denali is attempting to bite the microphone.

During the month of February, captive wolf managers often face a more aggressive exhibit, correlated with the wolf breeding season. Even though our Exhibit Pack is spayed and neutered, we have an influence of adrenal glad secretions that influence pack behavior. This exhibit is a different formation than typical wild wolf packs that include parents and their offspring, the Center manages three generations of three different subspecies, resulting in an increased likelihood of pack dynamics influenced by rank order. The podcast contains a pack howl, with subsequent dominance and rank order behavior. There are only 6 wolves howling, but the changes in pitch always make it sound like there are more wolves.

In May of 2008, the Center acquired two pups from the Wildlife Science Center. Wolf Care staff and seminar participants rotated 24 hour a day shifts to provide basic needs of the pups and record the sites and sounds of pup development.