Wolf Puppies Are Adorable. Then Comes the Call of the Wild.
- 7 years ago
Wolf Puppies Are Adorable. Then Comes the Call of the Wild.
In the 1970s, Ms. Goodmann worked with Erich Klinghammer, the founder of Wolf Park, to develop the 24/7 model for socializing wolf puppies, exposing them to humans and then also to other wolves, so they could relate to their own kind
but accept the presence and attentions of humans, even intrusive ones like veterinarians.
But Dr. Lord said that wolf experts considered eight-week-old wolf puppies past the critical period.
One, said Dr. Karlsson: ”How did a wolf that was living in the forest become a dog that was living in our homes?”
The other is whether fear and sociability in dogs are related to the same emotions and behaviors in humans.
Because if there’s one thing all wolf and dog specialists I’ve talked to over the years
agree on, it is this: No matter how you raise a wolf, you can’t turn it into a dog.
I also visited Wolf Park, in Battle Ground, Ind., a 65-acre zoo
and research facility where Dana Drenzek, the manager, and Pat Goodmann, the senior animal curator, took me around and introduced me not only to puppies they were socializing, but to some adult wolves.
Scientists aren’t entirely sure how wolves evolved into dogs, but new research into the genetic and social behavior of wolf pups may offer some clues.
This past spring she bred two litters of wolf pups from two female wolves and one male she had already at the zoo.
I visited other captive wolves as well, young and adult, to get a glimpse of how a research
project begins — and, I confess, to get a chance to play with wolf puppies.
People must spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for weeks on end with wolf puppies just to assure them that humans are tolerable.
In the 1970s, Ms. Goodmann worked with Erich Klinghammer, the founder of Wolf Park, to develop the 24/7 model for socializing wolf puppies, exposing them to humans and then also to other wolves, so they could relate to their own kind
but accept the presence and attentions of humans, even intrusive ones like veterinarians.
But Dr. Lord said that wolf experts considered eight-week-old wolf puppies past the critical period.
One, said Dr. Karlsson: ”How did a wolf that was living in the forest become a dog that was living in our homes?”
The other is whether fear and sociability in dogs are related to the same emotions and behaviors in humans.
Because if there’s one thing all wolf and dog specialists I’ve talked to over the years
agree on, it is this: No matter how you raise a wolf, you can’t turn it into a dog.
I also visited Wolf Park, in Battle Ground, Ind., a 65-acre zoo
and research facility where Dana Drenzek, the manager, and Pat Goodmann, the senior animal curator, took me around and introduced me not only to puppies they were socializing, but to some adult wolves.
Scientists aren’t entirely sure how wolves evolved into dogs, but new research into the genetic and social behavior of wolf pups may offer some clues.
This past spring she bred two litters of wolf pups from two female wolves and one male she had already at the zoo.
I visited other captive wolves as well, young and adult, to get a glimpse of how a research
project begins — and, I confess, to get a chance to play with wolf puppies.
People must spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for weeks on end with wolf puppies just to assure them that humans are tolerable.