Wednesday 10 March 2010

And the wolves they are a-fighting

The general pattern was that Nayla and Ylva were the ones fighting (and Ylva in particular chasing Luna, the omega (bottom of hierarchy) wolf), while Steinulv, the alpha male, kept whining and intervening to keep the peace.
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The socialized wolves at Polar Zoo simultaneously carry out their roles vis-à-vis their human caretakers (and visitors to the zoo) and their social roles vis-à-vis each other (this is due to the fact that the zookeepers remain neutral, in stead of taking "a role in the pack"). Accordingly, they can fight one moment and lick a caretaker's face the next, then returning to the fight...




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