SSP wolf update

/in /by

Happy Monday everyone – A quick animal update:

The biggest news is we caught up quite a few of our male Species Survival Plan (SSP) animals for semen collection and banking last week. For two days we hosted the Point Defiance Zoo reproductive team as well as a reproductive specialist out of the St. Louis Zoo who is involved with the Mexican gray wolf program, and one of the vets we work with from Yelm Vet. Between all of the people, the wolves, and equipment, we still managed to all squish into the education room for the procedures.

Tala is one of the red wolves living at Wolf Haven.

Tala is one of the red wolves living at Wolf Haven.

Jacob Black

Jacob Black

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We caught up our red wolf males, Tala and Jacob, on Thursday and the following day we caught up our three Mexican gray wolf pre-release brothers (M1066, M1067, M1135…[My] house names of Hobbs, Cejitos, and Slinky respectively).  The catchup and procedures went well for everyone. Jacob’s samples were banked, but Tala’s samples had a low-ish sperm count. However, Ruby and Tala were seen tied just the day before so the timing for Tala’s collection wasn’t the best – the guess was that his ‘tank may have been empty’. The three brothers unfortunately didn’t have the best samples, but the team was still able to bank some of it. In addition, all of the wolves were given their ‘annuals’: vaccines, blood draw, and a physical exam by our vet. The wolves all recovered in their crates and were released, and thankfully everyone is doing fine after the procedure. In addition, all of the blood work looks good!

We’ve also had a fairly active breeding season so far. We have a total of four pairs of wolves recommended for breeding (as decided by the red and Mexican wolf SSP programs). We have seen both pairs of our red wolves tied (Jacob/Tamaska and Ruby/Tala), as well as one of our pre-release pairs of Mexican gray wolves (M752/F759 or house names of Coal/Fern).

Mexican gray wolf pair

Mexican gray wolf pair

We have an additional pair of pre-release Mexican gray wolves recommended, but haven’t seen them tied yet. This is a unique pair though, as the male is 15 years old! We’re all rooting for him, and keep in mind – just because we haven’t seen that pair tied doesn’t mean they haven’t. Now comes the waiting game…

Everyone else in the sanctuary is doing well.

Erik Wilber, Animal Care and Education Specialist

ErikW@Wolfhaven.org Image

 

"Wolves in Washington" presentation on Thursday, 3/7

/in /by

“Wolves in Washington”, a traveling wolf exhibit, is on display at the Washington State Library from Feb 4 – April 12, 2013. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by to see this interesting display, organized by the Burke Museum, University of Washington (in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife).On Thurs., March 7, at 6pm, Wolf Haven International will give a special presentation about the return of Wolves in Washington. Again, stop by for this free talk, where you’ll hear from the sanctuary’s executive director, Diane Gallegos, and Cindy Irwin, the director of education and volunteers.

The traveling exhibit is on display from Monday – Friday, February 4 – April 12, 2013, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., (Note: The exhibit will be closed Monday, February 18, for Presidents’ Day);

Where: Washington State Library, Point Plaza East, 6880 Capitol Boulevard SE, Tumwater, WA

Story’s Wolf Video from Yellowstone National Park

/in /by

An excellent video of Lamar Canyon Pack wolves. Video by Story

Breeding season, landscaping and aging gracefully

/in /by

February 18, 2013

Clarice is our oldest sanctuary resident.

Clarice is our oldest sanctuary resident.

Things are pretty normal in the sanctuary. Clarice, our oldest girl, continues to do well. Klondike, our newest guy, is acting like he’s been here his whole life and has really settled in well. And thankfully, no major health issues with anyone!

Mehina and Klondike

Mehina and Klondike

 

Breeding season is getting into full swing. We have our cameras up and recording, hoping to see signs of breeding activity from our recommended pairs. We have both red wolf pairs (Ruby/Tala and Jacob/Tamaska) recommended for breeding as well as one pre-release Mexican gray wolf pair (Coal/Fern) recommended. We also have a second pre-release pair ‘sort of’ recommended. The male is very genetically valuable and the two make a good match. However, the male is 15 years old! This is a situation of ‘if they have pups, great. If not, no big deal’. His name is Aldo, and we are all rooting for him – he would set the record for oldest Mexican gray wolf to reproduce if he does have pups!

The sanctuary is pretty much shut down for the breeding season. All the wolves get a bit more on edge, and many are barely interested in food this time of year. We try to limit our activities in the sanctuary and just give the wolves a chance to do their thing.

Red wolves Tamaska & Jacob

Red wolf pair Tamaska & Jacob

We just completed a new deckpen for Jacob and Tamaska, and it looks great! Hopefully they will get used to it quickly and start using it soon. They have a normal shelter they have used prior to the deckpen, but the deckpen is much roomier. Unfortunately, at this point the deckpen is also probably big, new, and scary to the two of them, but I’m sure curiosity will get the better of them soon.

In my last update, I mentioned that Mehina decided that she had had enough of the new laurels and cedars and pulled all but two of them out of the ground. Well, we re-planted them! So far she has only ripped two more out…This is turning out to be a battle of wills! Send some good thoughts to those poor plants, and hopefully Mehina will decide she actually does like them and let them be. Unfortunately we may need to eventually ‘rescue’ them and plant them somewhere far away from wolf teeth, but we’ll see.

As always, let me know if you have questions!

Erik Wilber,  Animal Care & Education Specialist

Wolf Haven International

The return of grey wolves 'not enough to restore Yellowstone's ecosystem'

/in /by

Wednesday 6 February 2013

This article appeared in The Guardian, by Roberta Kwok for Conservation Magazine, part of the Guardian Environment Network

The return of grey wolves ‘not enough to restore Yellowstone’s ecosystem’   

 

Loss of wolves = loss of willows = loss of beavers = loss of willows = loss of beavers………

Wolves A Poem

/2 Comments/in /by
Eve

Eve

by Sophia McMurray age 9

(This poem is dedicated to Eve. My wolf that I adopted from Wolf Haven.)

The moon is full and the pack is howling. They’re on the hunt and the leader’s growling. They look so graceful in the night as if they were getting ready for flight. In the den the pups are playing some are romping and some are laying. In the wild they look so free, I feel like wolves are a part of me. They flee so fast like a flash of light, they look so bright in the moonlight. The pack does well, they bring back meat, all of the pups get enough to eat. As long as there are wolves living in the wood all is well and all is good.

Wolf Haven Closed For February 2013

/in /by