Wolf Park 1997 Puppies [HOME]
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The Birth of Karin's Pups
        by Jill Moore
        Curled up in his mother's fur, a four-day-old pup sleeps.
On Monday April 21 Lara Luke and I went over to check on Karin at about 1:00 p.m. Based on her behavior we thought she was in labor. That evening we went back to see her just after 7:00 p.m. All three of us (two humans and a wolf) all crawled in the hut and layed down. We stayed that way for about 45 minutes. When we were certain Karin was in labor, Lara and I decided to leave and get some straw for the hut. It was getting cold, felt like it was about to rain, and there was not much straw. We got back about 8:10 p.m. with the straw, my video camera and a flashlight. Karin very eagerly took the straw flakes and almost frantically made a nest. She lay down panting. She seemed a little upset if we sat in the hut entrance so we retreated to the platform in her pen. A few moments later she began to howl - each howl was fairly short and were spaced about a minute or two apart at most. They began to almost sound like moan howls and Lara thought maybe she was stressed by us being there. I wasn't sure - and wanted to wait just a few more minutes to see what developed. I thought she was very close to giving birth. I videotaped a little of the howling.

Karin sniffing one of her pups. At about 8:30 Karin got up and squatted. It was dark, even with the flashlight, but I assumed she was having a pup. A minute or two later we heard a puppy mewling. It was about 8:34. I was video taping this sequence. Five or ten minutes later Gary Kyrouac arrived and came in. We told him she'd had one pup and the three of us crawled to the hut entrance. Karin was much more relaxed in our presence. After a few moments she rolled the pup over and we saw it was a male. Gary patted the straw and Karin whined softly. We stayed back then. After Gary left Lara and I stayed in the hut opening and waited. Karin cleaned herself and her first pup and even enjoyed some ear rubs at this point.
A kozy warm place on mom.= She had her second pup at about 9:35 p.m. I got very good video of this birth. It was a large female. Shortly after she had this pup the first one squirmed up into the straw right in front of Lara. She put him back by Karin - who did not object to the pup being handled. We stayed a little longer, but as my camera battery was almost dead, I decided to leave and get a fresh one. As we were nearing my truck Pat Goodmann pulled up and she and Lara decided to go back in. We briefed Pat on the news so far.
I went home for a battery and found Monty Sloan had just returned from a trip to New Jersey. I told him what was happening and went back up. I arrived just barely too late to witness the birth of puppy number three - a girl. I was glad Pat had gotten to see its birth which occurred about 10:07 p.m. Pat left shortly afterwards. The fourth pup, a boy, was born at about 10:35. This one had white toes and a large white spot on the chest. Pat came back briefly - and then Monty showed up to take photos. Pat left the three of us to witness the remaining birth. Puppy number five was a female born about 11:08 p.m. Monty got some good photos of this birth.
We were all very happy and felt very privileged to witness the birth of this wolf litter. Karin is a great mother. I only wish she could understand our thanks and gratitude to her for allowing us to be present - both to record the births on video and in photos, but more importantly for us to just be there. It is an experience I shall always treasure!

Jill & Karin

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Last revised: July 3, 1997