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County Update
With a heavy heart, we must inform you that the claims made in our lawsuit with Larimer County regarding expanding the Sanctuary has been denied by a judge. Wolf remained optimistic to win at least a few of our 6 requests from our amended special review application, but it appears that will not happen after all. We thank you for all your support during this challenging process, and wish we had better news to report to you for the sake of the animals. We are looking into other options, which may exist. One of those, Mountain States Legal Foundation has shown some interest in the case and is currently reviewing it. They may be willing to file an appeal on Wolf’s behalf. This Foundation specializes in land use cases where the property owners have been denied their rights. We feel very strongly that our rights have been denied, and will pursue any options to remedy that if possible. Wolf will keep you updated on this situation as it unfolds. |
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You may remember our last newsletter’s pack dynamics story detailing the dominance issues we were having between Shaman and Nashoba. Although we tried to let them deal with the situation and work it out amongst themselves, the problems continued. On 12 Apr, Frank and Kiley were working late. Kiley was on her way to the basement, and just happened to notice Shaman, Isabeau and Nashoba together on the mountainside. No cause for alarm, the trio spent a lot of time together, and no one was making a sound. But something seemed a little out of the ordinary, even for them. Kiley started walking up the hill towards them. At the same time, Frank went to the window of the house for no apparent reason. He also noticed something odd about the interactions, and kept watching. About that time, Kiley was half-way up the enclosure and started running. Something was drastically wrong. Frank was already on his way out the door before he heard Kiley’s cries for help. It was a horrible scene: Shaman had evidently been pushed off a terrace by Nashoba. His leg became hopelessly trapped between a small tree and the terrace during the fall. He was stuck, his leg in a scary position, and Nashoba was attacking him. Isabeau was just standing there, unsure of what to do. Shaman ended up on his back, fighting to get his leg out and attack Nashoba back. |
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After everyone calmed down, we were able to separate Nashoba from the other two. The humans returned to the house, sore and bleeding, only to find dinner burnt to a crisp on the stove. Oh well, no one was hungry after that anyway! It was very apparent the boys were not going to work out their issues, and Nashoba had to be moved. We painfully decided to put him in with Kiki and Rajan, as he and Rajan are roughly the same age and size. The hope being they would more readily accept each other as play mates rather than competitors. But it was dark, and the move would have to wait until tomorrow. The next morning, Steve arrived to dart Nashoba for the move. But Nashoba had different plans. He has been darted before, and was wise to all of our normal tricks to coax him into a smaller area. We spent the entire day trying to lure him down the mountain to make to darting process easier for him as well as the humans. During this, it was also necessary to put up temporary fence panels in the containment area of Kiki’s run. We needed a way to safely get Rajan leashed and out of the enclosure without direct contact with Nashoba. Fortunately, staff and volunteers were able to accomplish this without too much trouble. |
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Before night fell, we decided the only option was to dart Nashoba within the large enclosure. Steve made the hike up, and was able to get a good shot off pretty quickly. Nashoba was asleep in 20 minutes, and the humans began to hike him down the hill. He awoke without incident, but was very stressed and unsure about his new territory. Nashoba spent a week in that area and all interactions at the fence seemed very friendly, so we decided to introduce him to Rajan first. We could not have asked for a better meeting! The boys immediately hit it off, running around and playing like old friends. We knew they would be fine together if Kiki was willing to accept him. After a few minutes, we let the boys into the main enclosure with Kiki. Initially, they ignored each other, as Nashoba was more interested in checking out the new smells and stealing meat. Once they met, everything was fine. |
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The three continue to do very well with each other. Kiki is content to let the boys play hard, but occasionally must step in and show them both who is boss. They share food well, and both boys will come eat out of your hand. We are extremely happy with the outcome, although saddened we were forced to move Nashoba in the first place. Wolf will keep you posted on how the rest of the bonding goes. |
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WOLF, Post Office Box 1544, La Porte, CO 80535 - USA