Behavioral study at the Zoo

So we decided to study a wolf pack, a couple and 3 young wolves born in 2022, in the "Marecottes" Zoo. As you will discover in the article "Studies in anthropized environments", it's possible to obtain objective and verified information, even though it isn't recommended to transpose everything to wild wolves. To provide you a better understanding of the Marecottes pack situation, here is the history of its member and the observation made previously, since August 2022. In the coming months, in addition to our study on wild wolves, we will add a follow-up on the behavioral study in that zoo.

HISTORY 

In 2015, there was only one wolf in the Marecottes Zoo. It was an adult male, named Apollo. The new owner of the Zoo wanted to offer him a companion and searched for a female in other swiss zoos. He finally found two females, who were sisters, at the Bern Zoo: Daphne and Ayla. A contact was quickly established to know if these wolves, living together, got along and cohabited well. The goal was to bring them both to Les Marécottes. Finally, as everything was all right, the decision has been taken to take them.

As soon as they arrived, the two females were placed in Apollo's enclosure, separated in two by fences, to limit the contacts and to give time to Apollo, Daphne and Ayla to get acquainted. This way, the wolves could see each other and communicate without any trouble or conflict due to territoriality. For about ten days, the wolves were left like this, observed all day long to identify possible signs of disagreement or behavioral issues. But the interactions were positive, no signs of aggression, things seemed to be really fine. .

After a two weeks observation, the decision was made to remove the separation, so that Apollo and its new partners could get to know each other better. Under constant observation, everything seemed to be going well, contacts were normal. No conflict has been observed during the first week...

But, one day, Daphne took the lead and, in a few seconds, the situation totally changed ! Apollo and Daphne rushed and attacked Ayla in a violent way, their intention was to kill her. Thanks to a very quick intervention of the Zoo's staff, the conflict was stopped, after only 2-3 minutes.

Unfortunately, Ayla has been seriously injured, especially in the hindquarters and chest. Despite the seriousness of its injuries, the staff wanted to take care and save Ayla. Every day during 1 month, she was put to sleep to allow veterinary care, notably disinfection and treatment of the wounds. A heavy and constraining device on an animal which did not learn the "medical training" (1) and has kept its most natural and primitive instincts.

Against all odds, after 1 month, the prognosis changed, Ayla survived. Although the veterinarian did not think that her fur would grow back, considering the severity of the injuries inflicted on her, she didn't listen to him: today, Ayla does not bear any trace or stigma of the attack.

Of course, she couldn't be reintegrated with Apollo and Daphne. So Ayla was put in a separate enclosure. A male was found for her, named Hank, and they're now a happy and balanced couple. But, for the moment, they still haven't had any cub. We don't know if it's due to a physical (after-effects of its injuries) or an eventual mental problem. Future will tell us...
 

Marecottes pack

Apollo finally found its sweetheart, Daphne. Now the concern was whether they would reproduce... In the past, cubs were born in the Marecottes Zoo, often in quite large numbers (7 to 9 cubs). The staff had built cave-like dens in the park, to offer the couple all the comfort and facilities required.

In 2021, Apollo and Daphne became parents, for the first time : 9 cubs were born in Les Marécottes. Despite the caves built to help them, the couple decided to build their own den, digging in a part of the enclosure. Unfortunately, after 2-3 days of heavy rainfall, the den suffered a major flood. Daphne, who was inexperienced, took her cubs out but didn't know how to react. Several cubs died of hypothermia (which goes very fast at this stage, a matter of minutes) and others have never been found. No cubs survived that year, unfortunately.

In 2022, a new litter was born. Only 3 cubs survived, the others having disappeared again. It could be that some of these cubs were either stillborn or weakened, leading their mother to let them die (leaving them aside, without heat or milk) and then eating or burying them. This often happens in canids, especially with large litters. This is how natural selection works: the weakest are left behind and die, this allows the strongest to have more food and so more chances to survive.

Today, the Marecottes pack is composed of the couple Apollo & Daphne and their three young wolves, now sub-adults. Having already done a few days of observation in August 2022, we could notice the good progress of the parental education, the implication of Apollo and significant differences in the character and personality of the cubs.

The first one, that we called "Shy", is...rather shy (as her name indicates) and withdrawn. She's most likely a type B, or a calmer character. This young wolf was so withdrawn that the staff even looked for a place for her, thinking that she would be mistreated because she was already put aside. She has now found her place in the pack but the staff remains vigilant.

The second one, that we called "Lady", is a bit "in between", not looking for conflict nor imposing herself but not withdrawn or afraid either. As a cub, she often stood with Shy, tried to approach her father Apollo when he woke up to greet him. Appolo had just to showed its teeth, that was enough to stop Lady. She respected the codes.

And the third one, that we called "Queen" ,had already a very strong character, the one of a leader. It was easy to find a name ! During a scene around a carcass, where she was standing alone and then was joined by her two sisters and her mother, we have been able to see her strong temper. She didn't hesitate to growl and then charge her own mother, who also wanted to join in the bone "gnawing". Three times she tried to push her mother away, using these methods. But suddenly Daphne, perhaps taking our vocal advice ("you're not going to let your pre-teen walk all over you !"), turned her around, held her down, and made her scream really loud. Things went back to normal afterwards, as Queen understood her mother educational message. But there's no doubt that she must have a type A character.

We would like to thank from the bottom of our hearts the co-director of the Marecottes Zoo, Mr. Thierry Piasenta, as well as Mr. Eric Mottier, for their full and cordial collaboration.

Dictionary

(1) Medical Training : this method proposes positive conditioning through rewards to the animal. The staff gives treats to the animal and asks it to make a gesture (give its paw, show its side, position itself in such and such a way, etc.) to get used to human contact and to very precise gestures/positions. From the moment the animal has to undergo a treatment, this method is used to give a limb, to put itself aside and it really facilitates the work of the zoo staff and the veterinarians. At Marecottes Zoo, the staff and director decided not to do any medical training on the animals, including the wolves. They wanted to animals to keep their instinct and behaviors as natural and primitive as possible.

Article : TM - Wolf Mission
Photo : Wolf Mission