Pack-10 10 Gray Wolves Are Spending The Winter At WSU
At first glance, they look like dogs, German shepherds perhaps, with gray-brown coats, big ears and the sloped shoulders of schoolyard toughs.
But a second look shows they behave differently, loping instead of running, loitering in cliques, snarling and rolling over in an ongoing display of supremacy and submissiveness.
“They really work almost as one organism,” said Einav Shochat, a Washington State University graduate student in zoology and caretaker of the 10 gray wolves being housed over the winter at the school’s bear research facility.
“It’s a pack.”
Drawing the attention of drivers and noontime runners on the Airport Road jogging path, the wolves are offering a rare glimpse into the behavior of one of North America’s most hard-to-see and misunderstood animals.
“When people come, they can see very much what wolves act like in the wild,” said Shochat, who will be on hand to answer questions from 9 a.m. to noon today as the school has a formal “coming out party.”
WSU is housing the wolves until April in its bear facility while a wolf habitat is built for them at the Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Mont. WSU’s bears are hibernating in a nearby building.
The 10 wolves were born in captivity at a licensed breeder’s facility in Montana. Because of their exposure to humans, they will never be released into the wild.
One wolf, Aztec, was born 18 months ago and the other nine, none of which have names, were born in May. They weigh 60-70 pounds now, and could reach nearly 100 pounds when full-grown. They’re social creatures, though not to the growing number of humans wandering by the facility on the east end of campus on Grimes Way.
Four fraternity brothers Friday took turns whistling at them through the electrified fence, but the wolves paid no mind. Indeed, people who want to see the wolves up close should not whistle or look them in they eye - a sign of aggression - or they will retreat up the hill of their pen, Shochat said.
For the most part, the wolves keep to themselves, lounging on their sides, playing king of the mountain on a woodpile, or gnawing on deer parts - road kill brought by the highway department.
Aztec’s role as the alpha, or lead wolf, is obvious. When another gray wolf had the temerity to nip at her face while she tried to soak up some of the sun’s warmth, a quick snarl sent the transgressor onto its back.
“You can tell she’s dominant. ‘Lay down and roll over,”’ said Charlie Robbins, professor of zoology and Natural Resource Sciences.
Having raised the other nine as pups, she calls them to eat, brings deer legs to them and even feeds some with regurgitated food, said Shochat, just like in the wild.
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