Important Update!
After suffering a serious injury, Orca is out of the pack. Click here for details.

Orca - Born in 1994, was brought from Minnesota as a tiny puppy. Orca is a wolf with beautiful, distinctive black lines on his face and whose behavior is full of contrasts: on the one hand, Orca is spooky and afraid of strange noises and movements and very shy toward strangers. On the other hand, once he knows somebody he does a very exuberant greeting, jumps up and snaps at people's faces or hands. He had always submitted to Funny, a female Collie, but when we first brought in Altair to the puppies, Orca raised his hackles and growled at the alpha female.

When it comes to training Orca to walk on obstacles, including ladders and similar objects, he will act very scared and refuse to have anything to do with it - until suddenly one day he will decide that board is not very scary anymore, and these ladders are fun to walk on... Orca is always good for surprises.

In early 1996, through a series of events, Orca was able to take advantage of other males in the pack and quickly moved from #5 to #2 in the rank order. Following Chinook's death in July 1996, Orca was able to "inherent" the alpha position. Later in the winter of 96/97 Alyeska challenged Orca for the position of alpha male, but lost leaving Orca the uncontested dominant male. However, until her untimely death late in 1997, he still would defer to Altair, the alpha female and overall pack leader.

Orca's position remained uncontested until his accident which has unfortunately resulted in his permanent removal from the pack.

Here are some descriptions and links to pictures of our 'family'

The Main Pack

• Alyeska - Born in 1994 and "imported" from Minnesota, he is a week older than his artificial litter mates, Karin and Orca. He is a very laid back, almost lazy, wolf with a very cute expression on his face. He would rather lie in the shade than waste too much energy - except when it comes to food. He is very friendly with people and really likes to get scratched - as long as he is in the shade. If Orca and Karin decided to get involved in social play, they usually chased him - which he did not seem to mind.

• Apollo - Born in 1995 Apollo was the largest member of his litter. As he grew, he not only became taller but wider. His first fall, he earned the nickname of "Hairy Pear" due to his build. Following his older brother's, habit of grabbing at pant legs, arms, or any other body part which provided itself to be grabbed, Apollo also became known as "The Baby Black Jaws of Death." Fortunately, as he matured, he grew out of both habits. He lost his pear shape the following spring, developing quite a beautiful sleek build. He also stopped being quite so grabby and mouthy.

• Chetan - Born in 1995 to a precocious Karin and probably Socrates, Chetan was the only male pup in the litter of five. Chetan means "hawk" in Lakota. A standoffish puppy coat lent to the nick name of "FluffyPup." Later his first winter, his social endeavors "helping" Orca move up in rank earned him the name of "Evil, Wicked Henchpuppy."

• Karin - Born in 1994 and also "imported" from Minnesota, Karin is a sister to Orca. She is the first female puppy added to the pack since 1988. As a pup, she was a very outgoing friendly wolf who liked to chew on shoe laces - so softly that you hardly realized she was actually doing it. Karin is a skilled and agile "problem solver", who tries out everything without hesitation. She likes to walk over teeter totters, on all sorts of boards and even ladders. Her favorite is the teeter totter which she will often climb on and balance for her own enjoyment.

  Altair was extremely lenient over Karin her first year leading to some very outgoing and precocious behavior. Karin not only was allowed to freely court two high ranking brothers, Kiri and Socrates, but mating with them also was 'allowed'. 63 days later (give or take a couple days) Karin presented Wolf Park with a litter of five healthy puppies two full weeks before her own first birthday.

• Miska - Born in 1996 to Altair and Chinook, Miska was the often challenged beta pup of his litter. Miska is not as independent as his brother, Seneca. Members of the public even commented that he was a non stop whiner. He is very submissive with humans and often elicits tummy rubs. However, even as a young pup he showed the same tendency to get mouthy as the classical 'Chinookling'

  Miska displayed his high level of dominance among the puppies as well. In the presence of his brother, Seneca, Miska would easily dominate his sister Medea. Were Seneca to be off taking care of his own matters, Medea would dominate Miska. Twice Medea instigated mobbings of Miska who responded by ignoring all other pups and going after her intensely.

  As a yearling, Miska has not changed much. He is well known at the Park to ask nicely for a belly rub, but if you try to stop, his mouth usually finds a leg to hold onto. Another generation of black puppy, another "Baby Black Jaws of Death..."

• Seneca - Born in 1996, Seneca is the litter brother to Miska. As a puppy Seneca was usually the dominant male of the puppy pack (rank order fluctuates often in a puppy litter). He had a tendency to be outrageously forward in all matters. Last summer before the pups were introduced to the pack, one of his human puppy parents (Karl) gave the pups a Zucchini. Miska was the first to get the Zucchini. Seneca quickly took the Zucchini and ran to the middle of the enclosure where he gave each and every other pup a look that clearly said 'betcha can't catch me.' He then took off at a run with all four other pups behind him. They chased him for 25 minutes.

  Seneca is much easier on people than his brother, Miska, and only tends to 'test' by pulling clothing and gently mouthing hands. However, Seneca is a grand social climber. He is always one of the first to greet (tweak) new people and will accept treats from anyone. His most endearing habit however, is the way in which he acts as the new 'bucket thief', replacing Kiri who outgrew that stage.

  Oh the other hand, Seneca has been known to be fairly abrasive with other wolves. Constantly looking for opportunities and often using Orca as backup, Seneca has managed to take advantage of all the other males, even dominating Chetan on occasion.

The Mini Pack

• Chani - Born in 1989, Chani is somewhat larger than her sister, Sierra, and is also the first of the three pups to begin fading to white. She is unquestionably the most dominant of the pups with a well-balanced personality. Like her mother, she is very friendly, but she too can be shy at times, especially toward men. Chani frequently asserts herself over Sierra and for good reason....

• NK - Born in 1989, NK is a very outgoing wolf with perhaps the most nicknames of any wolf at Wolf Park. With the death of his 13-year-old father, Sergei, in the fall of 1992, NK has become the alpha male of his small pack which is made up of he and his two sisters, Sierra and Chani. He has also become very assertive toward people so meeting may be restricted to visual visits only.

• Sierra - Born in 1989, Sierra was the largest of the three pups, but the other two passed her early on in size. She is the crybaby of the group, always looking for attention. She is also the bounciest of the three "intercontinental ballistic missiles", and has developed a tendency to test her sister by mouthing her muzzle, and tests people by mouthing their hands.

The Brothers

• Kiri - Born in 1993 and litter-brother to Socrates, Kiri is a black male wolf. Kiri is very friendly with people, but has a tendency to attach himself to and hang from them on occasion... For this he earned the name of "Black Jaws of Death" for he would often attach those black jaws to a pant leg whenever a handler would try to leave the pen. Kiri also loves water and has the tendency to get quite muddy. For this we have nicknamed him "The Mook Monster" or just "Mookie." He is also often called "Kiri-Cheese" for unbeknownst to our Director, Dr. Klinghammer, who named him, Kiri is also a type of French cheese.

• Socrates - Born in 1993 to Altair and Chinook, Socrates is a gray male wolf who, like his father, has a bit of "edge" on him. However, he does enjoy rolling over and having his tummy rubbed. Although he was sometimes 'difficult' with people, Socrates was not a social climber like his brother Kiri who quickly became assertive over him while still a pup.

  Best of friends/worst of enemies, these two bothers however never really managed to clearly establish rank between them while in the pack. However, following being driving out by Orca shortly after their father's death in the summer of 1996, Kiri eventually was able to formally assertive himself over his smaller brother. Of course having a 30 pound advantage did not hurt Kiri's advantage either.

  When they were removed from the main pack they were reunited with their Aunt, Vega. Vega seemed to enjoy their presence, well at first anyway, but after several months Socrates decided that she was fun to harass. During the winter the brothers had each other to contend with. Often when Socrates would begin to give Vega a hard time, Kiri would run over and dominate his 'troublesome' brother giving Vega a reprieve. As things settled down in the spring between the two males, Kiri no longer stood in Socrates's way and when it became obvious that Vega really would rather be alone we decided to separate her to give her a reprieve.

The Lone Females

• Aurora - Born in 1988, Aurora is a small gray female with neotenous features, i.e. a foreshortened muzzle and domed forehead. She is the smallest wolf at Wolf Park, but doesn't let that stop her from taking advantage of any situation. At times she can be very grumbly or very sweet - she goes by the nicknames "Growl-muffin," "Thunder-muffin" or "Love-muffin" depending on what mood she is in. Although a bit reserved with groups, she is also still good with children and has been adopted by several of the local schools. She was removed from the main pack in 1994.

• Deneb - Born in 1988, Deneb is a very outgoing and excitable gray female. Despite being sister to the extremely baby faced Aurora, she has a very beautiful, long muzzled face. She was the lower ranking of the two females at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ, and was driven out by her sister, Hera, in the early spring of 1991. She has now come to live out the rest of her live at Wolf Park. Upon her return, one of her first experiences was a long walk on a leash to visit puppies. To our surprise, Dr. Klinghammer's goat, Ericha, accompanied her on her walk, refusing human efforts to drive her away. Of course Deneb wanted to get Dr. Klinghammer's goat, so the walk was fraught with excitement for Deneb's handlers!

  At the Turtle Back Zoo Deneb was always the scapegoat. She was picked on and harassed for several years by her sister Hera and sometimes even the two males, Zaphod and Tybor. She had to be removed from her pack when Hera stubbed her toe and over-reacted, redirecting very intense aggression towards Deneb. In two weeks a very week and mild wolf, quickly came out of her shell and became the dominant ALPHA Deneb we know and love today. Every attempt to introduce even a male to her has been met with a crouch, stare, airplane ears followed by a rush and an attempt to 'attack' this potential intruder through the fence. It seems quite clear that Deneb is very content with the companionship of humans, sans wolves.

• Trillian - Born in 1984, Trillian is a very outgoing cream colored female and litter sister to Koshie. She is known as the "Kissing Wolf" for her incessant kissing of all who come to visit her. She is the last of the wolves from the Philadelphia Zoo and was once the alpha female of her pack at the zoo. After her mate, the alpha mail died following a routine checkup, the remaining three females in the pack began to fight and had to be separated. When Trillian returned to the park we were surprised to see that she did not show any obvious sign of recognizing her sister and former pack member, Koshie, who lives across the corridor. They had been separated because of serious fighting and it will never be possible to reunite them. When Imbo, the pack's current alpha male, was 'retired' in 1991, he was successfully introduced to Trill after a long and involved introduction. Imbo later passed away leaving Trill a widow once again.

• Ursa - Born in 1988, Ursa is a black female with a slight brown tinge to her coat. As a puppy her main claim to fame was that she went through a phase when her eyes were different colors - one dark yellow, and one green. Today her eyes are very nearly the same shade of dark yellow, almost orange. She limps on her left hind leg, as a result of a green-stick fracture (a fracture where the bone does not break all the way through - kind of like breaking a green stick) when she was about six months old. Generally Ursa is gentle towards people, but she can be a bit shy at times and has also tested people on occasion - mostly by putting her mouth around some part of a human - typically an arm. We call this "measuring." Measuring is apt to be followed by a pinch or a grab, so we are alert for it. A few times she worried us by measuring people's heads - an act we hasten to discourage.

  Ursa also has a thing for "maintenance" -- such as watering, mowing, pulling weeds, working on fencing, etc. -- she does not like it. Rather than be shy, she tries to go after the person performing this 'forbidden' behavior. Those who preform such rudeness in her presence are forever 'unacceptable' in her presence. She has also become somewhat leery of new people entering her enclosure, however, complete strangers are often met with a very nice greeting and a quick kiss when she meets them in neutral territory. Because of this, Ursa has participated with a 'run with the wolves' -- where we let one or two wolves run in a large enclosed field along with the Seminar Participants during a Wolf Behavior Seminar held at the park. For years she went out with her brother Chinook, but upon his death, she now often runs with her more doggy friend, Tatanka.

• Vega - Born in 1988, Vega is another black female who looks darker than either her sister Altair, or her cousin Ursa. She also has very striking pale yellow eyes. Vega exhibits approach-avoidance conflict when it comes to meeting new humans. This is characteristic of a genetically shy animal. Despite her shyness, which increases in the fall and winter, she will come up to greet those who are patient - at which times she can be very exuberant. Regarded more as a 'squeak toy' than a packmate, when it was clear that the only think keeping Vega in the pack was the fence, she was allowed to move into retirement in January of 1996. For awhile she was with her two nephews, Kiri and Socrates, but she continued to act the victim and needed to be separated from them in the spring of 1997.

Other Furry Creatures

New fox enclosure in use!

• Cory - Is our newest fox. He was born in the Spring of 1997 and was introduced to the other two foxes early this summer. Angel in particular really likes this little guy.

• Angel - Our female fox. Angel is an ex-pet red fox originally bred at a fur farm. She a shy striking dilute black-phase red fox, and although she is too shy to allow much contact, her antics are quite amusing to watch...

• Basil - Our Male fox. In February 1996 we received a call from a shelter not too far from here. The people at the shelter asked "Would you be interested in a really nice socialized male fox." Basil turned out to be really, really nice. He is a well socialized pet fox which probably due to the fact that no matter how well socialized foxes are, they are still foxes -- red foxes smell musky (somewhat like skunks in fact) and are nocturnal and tend to scream a lot at night, and get into everything, was not the ideal pet. Such non-domestic "pets" are often purchased with little or no knowledge as to their care or needs. When they become inconvenient or when there is a problem, people often think that finding a home will not be much of a problem. Nothing could be further from the truth. Despite the fact that Basil was a sweet friendly fox, Wolf Park was the 20th place contacted to take him and he was lucky in that we had a lone female who was accepting of such a young and obstreperous male.

  Basil is dilute to the point of being nearly pure white, he loves to jump, climb, kiss, curl up and even sleep on people. It is not all that uncommon for him to climb a person and become a fox-hat for a few enchanting moments.

  All three foxes show some signs of "domestication" to the extent that Cory is slightly lighter (dilute) than a wild red fox. Angel is a dilute black-phased red fox with a somewhat neotonized (shorter) muzzle. And Basil, who is the most extreme example, is nearly pure white. This effect is described by D. K. Belyaev and L. N. Trut, Some Genetic and Endocrine Effects of Selection for Domestication in Silver Foxes. pp 416-426 in The Wild Canids, Their Systematics, Behavioral Ecology and Evolution. M. W. Fox, Ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1975.

• Wild Bill ...And finally, but certainly not last - Our coyote. Wild Bill. Bill was born in 1987 and was raised at the park. He is very friendly with people and thoroughly enjoys tummy rubs and ear scratches as well as howl-alongs. He is often sought out by visitors who have heard the howl of local coyotes, but have never had the opportunity to see one close up.

More on Adoptions
For an adoption form click here

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs © Monty Sloan/Wolf Park For permission to use or for more information about wolf photographs please write Monty Sloan

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Web page © 1997, 1998 Monty Sloan

Last revised: January 28, 1998