Current News
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Pups Join Adult Wolves in Ely Jess Edberg, Information Services Director -- International Wolf Center, 08/10/2008
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Growing from l pound at birth to 38 pounds in just over three months is no small feat for a healthy wolf pup living at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. At the Center, staff care for five adult captive gray wolves, and although spayed and neutered, they just had pups.
“It is my job to maintain a socially cohesive unit of wolves for the exhibit, and we do recognize that to do this, new life must be added to the exhibit,” said Lori Schmidt, wolf curator at the Center.
Aidan and Denali, the Center’s newest additions to the Exhibit Pack, were born at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minnesota, in late April and moved to Ely in early May at 12 days of age. During the past three months, the two pups have gone through an intense socialization with Wolf Care staff and wolf pup nannies.
8/12/08 Jess Edberg, Information Services Director
Growing from l pound at birth to 38 pounds in just over three months is no feat for a healthy wolf pup living at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. At the Center, staff care for five adult captive gray wolves, and although spayed and neutered, they just had pups.
“It is my job to maintain a socially cohesive unit of wolves for the exhibit, and we do recognize that to do this, new life must be added to the exhibit,” said Lori Schmidt, wolf curator at the Center.
Aidan and Denali, the Center’s newest additions to the Exhibit Pack, were born at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minnesota, in late April and moved to Ely in early May at 12 days of age. During the past three months, the two pups have gone through an intense socialization with Wolf Care staff and wolf pup nannies.
A day in the life of a growing pup at the Center includes lots of human contact, playing, eating and sleeping. With a growth rate of up to 1 pound per day, Aidan and Denali slept most of the time until they began to build the musculature and endurance to handle more activity such as exploring their pup enclosure and wrestling with each other.
Weight gain was of particular importance to Schmidt as the pups grew, not only as an indication of proper nutrition and growth rate but also to ensure that the pups would be physically ready to begin their life in the main enclosure with their future packmates.
As the pups developed, they gradually went from a diet of liquid formula to a mixture of formula and bone dust, a by-product of the meat-cutting process. Eventually, they graduated to a meat-only diet and were fed elk, deer, turkey, chicken and beef—both ground and whole chunk.
“Wolves have intense ritualistic behaviors associated with dominance and submission, and for a pup being integrated into an adult pack, these can sometimes include being knocked over. The pups need to be physically solid and healthy so that they can handle a little rough-and-tumble from the adults,” said Schmidt.
The integration took place on Monday, August 4, and began at 7 a.m. with only Wolf Care staff present. Allowing only the Wolf Care staff to be involved meant the wolves were relatively calm since they were familiar with all of the people present. However, although the wolves were comfortable with the human handlers, the excitement was palpable as the pups were introduced first to the adult pack’s dominant male, Shadow.
The initial integration plan called for both Shadow and Maya, the dominant female, to be the first adults to greet the pups in the pup enclosure. Although the pups had spent the majority of their lives outdoors and adjacent to the adult wolves, this was the first time they were physically in the same space. Maya would not enter the much smaller pup enclosure, so the plan was changed to allow her to stay in the main enclosure. The initial integration was held in the pup enclosure to allow for a more controlled setting and to have better access to observe the wolves’ behaviors during the process.
Grizzer and Malik, the other two adult males, met the pups shortly after Shadow, and then Maya greeted them when all five of the wolves joined her in the main enclosure—the pups’ first time in their new home.
The initial meeting consisted mostly of the adults standing over the pups and sniffing them as the pups submissively rolled over and exposed their abdomen for inspection. All of the adults regurgitated or brought food to the pups during the first half hour. As the pups gained confidence, the adults increased their dominance over them making sure the pups understood their rank within their new pack.
Several Wolf Care staff spent the morning inside the main enclosure observing, filming and photographing the many interactions between the adults and pups. Documenting the wolves’ behaviors and creating wolf logs for the Center’s Web site (www.wolf.org) are among the duties of the handlers. Each week, new images, video clips and narratives are uploaded to the site for people to learn more about the wolves and follow their growth and dynamics.
The Center’s mission is an educational one: to teach the world about the wolf by presenting information gleaned from scientific research about not only the wolf but also associated species such as moose and deer and, of course, the wolf’s dynamic relationship with humans. Schmidt stressed that the ambassador wolves help foster visitors’ respect for an animal that they may never see in the wild. When pups join the pack, visitors are able to observe the parental care that makes pups the future of the pack—a demonstration of a great investment of energy, hormonal changes and influences, and pack bonding.
“I can guarantee that their life will have meaning here at the Center, and their care is our highest priority. We do not maintain multiple species like a zoo, but commit to a limited number of ambassador wolves, which are part of our organization and help achieve our mission of supporting wolves and wildlands. Wolf care is the top priority of our staff throughout our wolves’ lives into retirement,” expressed Schmidt.
The Center is open seven days a week to visitors until the end of September, when the hours of operation are then limited to Saturdays and Sundays through the winter. For more information on the International Wolf Center, its programming, its educational mission and its wolves, visit http://www.wolf.org.Related links More background information about the pups
International Wolf Center Wolf Logs
International Wolf Center Daily Programs
Wildlife Science Center
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