You don’t feed wolves like you do dogs even if the wolves don’t have to hunt.
Story about the wolves at the International Wolf Center at Ely, Minnesota. By Scott Stowell
Author
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Comments
2 responses to “Wolves need to gorge, even in captivity”
http://www.wolf.org/ is the website for the International Wolf Center. It’s a world-class facility. I’ve visited the center several times, most recently in March of 2007 before I moved out to Montana. The “Wolves and Humans” exhibit at the center was first put together by the Science Museum of Minnesota and does an excellent job of explaining wolf behavior, ecology, biology as well as the public perception of wolves. The captive wolves are healthy and obviously well-cared-for. They also have an intense and regular program schedule.
When I was there in March I went to the special program during the feeding time. It was very interesting to watch the pack interactions after the keepers brought in two deer carcasses.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/talltrent/sets/72157600111341151/ has my pictures taken during that visit if you are interested in checking them out.
It is a great place. I took the wolf ethology course they teach there in conjunction with a local college and was able to spend almost a week there doing field work to complete the course. Lori Schmidt, a wildlife biologist and the wolf care-taker does a great job there.