Wolf Center Info.

8/16/2019 Wolf Center Info.

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Acknowledgements

This document was inspired by Wolf Park’s (4004 E 800 N !attle "round #N 4$%&0www'wolfpark'or ) Wolf Etho ram (*e+ised &00&) used as a te,t for the Wolf Etholo ycourse tau ht by the #nternational Wolf -enter (./% 1wy . % Ely 2N 33$/.)'

Etho rams are desi ned to code beha+ior and create consistency for obser+ers describinanimal beha+ior' #n the interest of maintainin consistency for comparati+e analysiscomponents of the -enter’s !eha+ioral nalysis were deri+ed +erbatim from the WolfPark Etho ram' While this document reflects the type of beha+ior +iewed at the#nternational Wolf -enter Wolf Park’s Etho ram is more inclusi+e and describes the fullcompliment of beha+iors found in both capti+e and wild wolf etholo ical studies' copyof the Wolf Park Etho ram is a+ailable for purchase at the Wolf Park ift store or on lineat www'wolfpark'or '

The authors wish to acknowled e and thank the #nternational Wolf -enter’s Wolf -are5taff and the &004 Pup Nannies for the effort i+en in ac6uirin photo raphs and +ideo

from which the illustrations of the beha+iors ha+e been deri+ed' The photo raphy creditsare listed in the appendices'

This document is the result of many hours of work by Wolf -are Team 2ember nn*asberry' Without her dedication and commitment to the -enter’s wol+es this documentwould not e,ist'

Cover photo credits:

.) #W- &) #W- /) 5herry 7okinen 4) #W- 3) Nancy oTubbs ) #W- $) 5herry 7okinen 8) 9elly "odfrey %)#W- .0) 5herry 7okinen ..) #W-

#nternational Wolf -enter Ely 2innesota :5 ii

http://www.wolfpark.org/






Introduction

The #nternational Wolf -enter (#W-) ad+ances the sur+i+al of wolf populations byteachin about wol+es their relationship to wild lands and the human role in their future'To accomplish this mission the #W- conducts amon other acti+ities; onsite educational

pro rams offsite ad+enture pro rams a 6uarterly ma a<ine for members and wolfinformation throu h the #W- website at www'wolf'or ' To help support the educationalmission of the #W- sociali<ed wol+es are maintained to pro+ide +isitors an opportunityto obser+e wolf beha+ior throu h the #W-’s +iewin windows'

This !eha+ioral nalysis was de+eloped for the u ust &004 pup introduction to themain ambassador pack' #t has since been updated to pro+ide a document which can beused to identify both the #W-’s wol+es and beha+iors which may be obser+ed by +isitorsto the center' The emphasis is on those beha+iors commonly e,pressed amon the #W-wol+es; fear a ression and dominance food=related social and e,ploratory beha+iors'

The Wolf Park Etho ram ("oodman et al' &00&) was modified to describe specific #W- pack dynamics the indi+idual wol+es at #W- and the particular +iewin opportunities atthe #W- i'e' this is a capti+e pack> they are neutered and spayed> pack composition iscontrolled> the wol+es are sociali<ed> interactions outside the pack are restricted> and the

beha+iors (and thus the analysis) are not representati+e of wild wol+es'

ll attempts were made to incorporate the nomenclature used by Wolf Park to facilitate potential comparisons of etho rams as appropriate' This is not meant to be an e,actreplica of the Wolf Park etho ram because of the +ery different circumstancessurroundin the ambassador wol+es at the #W-' !ecause the emphasis is on theinteractions rather than e+ery beha+ioral nuance a set of enerali<ed beha+iors ha+e been

described' These are denoted as ?se6uences@ in the descriptions' These se6uences arealso used when the acti+ity is too rapid to allow for indi+idual notation of indi+idual

beha+iors' #n cases where these sessions are +ideotaped an analyst may refer to thatsection of the +ideo and detect the indi+idual beha+iors as desired'

Ather works particularly those of Wolf Park contain more detail relati+e to cate ori<in beha+iors and the subse6uent e,planations than will be undertaken here' #nterestedreaders are encoura ed to in+esti ate additional sources includin some of which arelisted in ppendi, 4 of this document'

ll beha+iors are important to record includin sleepin beha+iors' Abser+e who sleeps

with whom the distance between indi+iduals body postures and ear positions and soforth' E+en while sleepin wol+es are continuin to communicate their ranks in the pack'

#nternational Wolf -enter Ely 2innesota :5 iii

http://www.wolf.org/





The Retired Pack

Bucas 2ac9en<ie and Bakota were born in capti+ity at !ear -ountry :5 near *apid

-ity 5outh Cakota on pril &4 .%%/' They are known as "reat Plains wol+es (-anislupus nubilus) which is a subspecies of the ray wolf (-anis lupus) althou h there may

be some association with a linea e from !ritish -olumbia'

Bucas a male and his three sisters 2ac9en<ie 9iana and Bakota came to the#nternational Wolf -enter at the a e of .4 days old' #n .%%8 9iana passed away from ametabolic sei<ure lea+in the / remainin pack mates on display' fter the introductionof 5hadow and 2alik known as the rctics in the summer of &000 the .%%/ litter be anshowin their a e' !y u ust of &00& the trio was systematically tested for weakness bythe rctics' This is a natural process that occurs in the wild as well as in capti+ity' #n thewild wol+es ha+e the freedom to lea+e their pack and disperse' #n capti+ity mana ers

ha+e to make that decision for the wol+es' #n u ust of &00& 2ac9en<ie and Bakotawere dispersed to retirement and Bucas followed in 5eptember of &00&'

#n reco nition of their contribution to the #W-’s educational mission Bucas 2ac9en<ieBakota and 9iana are honored here'

#nternational Wolf -enter Ely 2innesota :5 i+



#nternational Wolf -enter Ely 2innesota :5 +



C* DT DA* #W- #NTE*N B :5E ANB







Identifying the Exhi it Pack

This section pro+ided recent ( u ust throu h Actober &004) pictures and cues foridentifyin the indi+iduals for the beha+ioral obser+ation team members' dditional

materials will be de+eloped to assist obser+ers at the #W- with identification as the pupsrow into adults'

The E,hibit Pack is the reference for the wol+es in the main enclosure' The indi+iduals of this pack may +ary as wol+es a e and new wolf pups are sociali<ed' Curin the earlysummer of &004 the E,hibit Pack consisted of 5hadow and 2alik two rctic subspeciesof ray wolf who were born in 2ay of &000' An u ust %th &004 "ri<<er 2aya and

Nyssa entered the E,hibit Pack to brin the total number of wol+es in this pack to 3'

!hadow

Photo credit; 5herry 7okinen Photo credit; nn *asberry

Photo credit; nn *asberry Photo credit; llen !rown

5hadow born 2ay 8 &000 is the one of the two rctic subspecies in the e,hibit packand has the characteristic white pela e' 5hadow is distin uished by a darker mu<<le

broader head' and o+erall lar er si<e than 2alik' 5hadow also bears a few bite markscars under his ri ht eye the results of a scuffle with 2alik' close look at 5hadow’sface will re+eal a more round eye pattern than his brother’s almond shaped eyes'



"alik

Photo credit; llen !rown Photo credit; 9elly "odfrey

Photo credit; 5herry 7okinen Photo credit; 5herry 7okinen

2alik born 2ay 8 &000 is one of the two rctic subspecies of ray wolf in the e,hibit pack and has the characteristic by the white pela e' dapted to their northern climatearctic wol+es ha+e rounder ears shorter le s shorter mu<<les and more hea+ily furredfeet than their southern relati+es' These features help them to conser+e heat in theirnati+e en+ironment' 2alik is distin uished by a raised cowlick or patch of hair in thecenter of his face' 1e also appears li hter in coloration than his brother 5hadow and hishead is a bit structurally smaller and slimmer than his brother' close look at 2alik’sface will re+eal the classic almond shape eyes of a wolf'



#ri$$er

Photo credit; llen !rown Photo credit; #W- Photo credit; #W-

"ri<<er is one of the two rayishFbrown wol+es in the e,hibit pack belie+ed to berepresentati+e of the -anis lupus nubilus subspecies and he was born on 2ay 3 &003'1e is almost identical to his sister 2aya' 1owe+er he is distin uished by his si<e G as amale it is common to be lar er than the females' #n addition the dark ray coarse hairson his forehead are a bit more abundant than those on 2aya’s forehead and he has

prominent dark lines in the middle of his face' 1e has a +ery bold personality when itcomes to the other wol+es' #f there’s a rayish wolf ridin up or rabbin the tail ofanother wolf it’s usually "ri<<er'

"aya

Photo credit; 5herry 7okinen Photo credit; #W- Photo credit; #W-

2aya is a littermate to "ri<<er also representin the -anis lupus nubilus subspecies andshe was born 2ay 3 &004' 5he is also rayishFbrown and is best distin uished by a moreslender face characteristic of a female wolf' 5he tends to ha+e more brownish colorationto her face with a sli ht reddish tin e around her neck hair' 1er personality is +erysubmissi+e and tends to hold her ears and body posture in a submissi+e pattern whenaround the other wol+es'



%yssa

Photo credit; #W- Photo credit; #W- Photo credit; 5herry 7okinen

Nyssa is related to "ri<<er and 2aya but she is not a littermate' Nyssa’s mother and"ri<<er’s and 2aya’s mother were littermates' Nyssa was born one week later than"ri<<er and 2aya and is the only black wolf in the e,hibit pack' 5he has a +eryindependent personality and will likely be obser+ed off on her own or pairin up with5hadow the dominant male rctic wolf in the e,hibit' 5he is usually +ery dominant and+ocal o+er food and isn’t intimidated by any of the other packmates'



The Photography

n attempt was made to facilitate the description of each of the beha+iors with photos ofthe members of the #nternational Wolf -enter wolf packs' 5ome beha+iors are se6uencesso a sin le photo will not work> in some cases consecuti+e frames from +ideo foota e has

been pro+ided' #t should be noted that some photos taken out of conte,t may bemisleadin '

The photos included are from participants of a +ariety of pro ram acti+ities held at #W-most notably the nanny pro ram durin the summer of &004' #W- obtained permissionfor use of the photos' list of photo raphers follows and their photo credits may befound in ppendi, .'

#nternational Wolf -enter (#W-) 5taff 9yle llenllen !rown9elly "odfrey5haron 1aller !ruce 7ohnson5herry 7okinenCou 2cBau hlin7anet Narron*honda A’"radynn *asberry

Nancy o Tubbs1eather HHH (1W)



&olf Topography

2any of the beha+ioral descriptions included in this etho ram contain references to theanatomy of the wolf' :sin 2alik these terms are illustrated here'

scruff

cowlick hackles = mostcommon on theneck but mayoccur on the

midback baseof tail and tail

base of tail

owls

Precaudelscent land

mu<<le

sternum

fore6uarters

forepaws

belly 5tifle(outside =in uinal is

insidethi h near

roin)

hind6uarters

hocks

!ack (hind) paws

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