MN State Sports
Wolf pups make themselves at home at Ely center
AP
Mesabi Daily News of Virginia
ELY, Minn. (AP) — The two new furry arrivals at the International Wolf Center are just about a month old and weigh just 7-8 pounds each. The youngsters are still formula-fed, burped and cuddled and cared for by their nannies in the nursery. They have yet to fully explore their brand new home in Ely.
But the wolf pups, who arrived at the center May 9, are already doing their part to educate the public about their brothers sisters in the wild.
The pups were born April 27 at the Wildlife Science Center, a research-based private facility in Forest Lake. They will eventually join 8-year-old Arctic wolves Malik and Shadow and 4-year-old Great Plains wolves, Maya and Grizzer, in the center’s main acre-plus forested wolf habitat. Wolf center staff selected the two largest male pups from a litter of six. The dark gray-colored pups spent their first two weeks with their mother — a decedent of a Yellowstone northwestern wolf, a subspecies of the gray wolf.
The center now has three examples of gray wolf subspecies, which are more representative of region than behavioral aspects. Northwestern wolves tend to be a bit larger, said Lori Schmidt, an International Wolf Center curator.
The pups, who arrived at a few pounds a piece, have been growing up to a half pound a day, she said. When they reach 35 to 40 pounds, they will be integrated with the adult wolves, likely at the beginning of August.
The introduction into the exhibit pack must occur when the pups are large enough, but not too big to test the older animal’s weaknesses, Schmidt said.
The center introduced pups in 2000 and 2004 and does not breed. It’s on a four-year schedule of introducing new pups.
For now, the little wolves are getting round-the-clock attention.
Their temporary home is a special heated ‘‘nursery’’ — a quiet place with low light and soft bedding, blankets, pine boughs and stuffed toys. People participating in the center’s nanny program and wolf care staff play and snuggle with the pups and feed them a dog formula milk replacement every few hours. Eventually they will be weaned to a diet of venison.
After July 5, nannies will spend 16 hours per day with the pups, and a pup cam runs 24 hours at the IWC Web site, www.wolf.org.
‘‘You’ll see nannies in there sleeping,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘This is a critical bonding period.’’
Unlike domesticated dogs, wolves retain genes selected for survival in the wild, and they are not prone to accepting humans. But they will bond with people when socialized at an early age.
Since the pups will remain in captivity — living up to 16 years as opposed to eight to 10 in the wild — and will require interactions with wolf center staff and vets, it’s especially important for the wolves to become accustomed to humans, Schmidt said.
They must also learn to accept various sounds and activities, such as raking in their enclosure. They will also be viewed and photographed by thousands of visitors through the windows in the center’s viewing area. ‘‘The glass isn’t tinted’’ nor soundproofed, Schmidt said.
The pups already have differing personalities, she said. Dominance takes place early on, and ‘‘one is bolder than the other.’’
The more aggressive of the two has been nicknamed Attila. The other pup, for now, is called Red Paw because his nails were initially painted red to distinguish him from his brother.
The pups are also exhibiting predatory behaviors, such as head shakes and growling. Attila was showing headshakes ‘‘before he could walk,’’ Schmidt said.
At 25 days of age, the pups demonstrated play bows for a group of onlookers prior to an open house event. And Red Paw has been pouncing on a toy stuffed moose in the nursery.
The adult wolves know the pups are around as well and have been howling to them, Schmidt said. Both female and male wolves produce a nurturing hormone, she said.
When the 2004 litter was introduced, the adults ‘‘regurgitated for them,’’ licked the pups, and protected and parented them, she said.
During the upcoming introduction, one adult at a time will be introduced to the pups in ‘‘the security of pup pen,’’ which will ‘‘make them much less nervous.’’
But first, the pups will share a protected fence line with adults, so they can sniff each other.
While the pups initially displayed some natural ‘‘fear avoidance’’ traits, they are bonding quite well to their human caregivers, Schmidt said.
‘‘The pups are showing some very strong associative bonds with the human handlers,’’ Schmidt wrote on a daily online pup log.
‘‘The socialization process is critical for wolf care staff to handle adult wolves,’’ she wrote. ‘‘While we still have fear avoidance issues with strangers, crowds and loud noises, the bond is being established with those people who will care for the wolves the rest of their lives.’’
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Information from: Mesabi Daily News, http://www.virginiamn.com
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