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APOLLO |
Born in 1995 to Chinook and Altair, Apollo was the largest puppy 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 and he ended up just being nicknamed "Pillow" since he was quite soft and fluffy. |
AYLA |
Ayla was born on April 12th, we surmise, because her mother, Erin, went into her den and refused to come out, except very briefly for about four days. During that time, if we saw Erin out she was getting a drink, picking up some take-home food, being fed a "hot lunch" by Tristan or Chetan, or she was repelling human invaders to the island who were hoping to hear puppies squeaking. (Staff only went onto the island once before it was time to take the pups, because it was plain that Erin did not want us there. Tristan and Chetan wanted to go into the den too and Erin would not allow them access either.) Either Tristan or Chetan is Ayla's father; because of her date of birth, Tristan is a more probable candidate for biological fatherhood than Chetan. Ayla's name is from the Jean Auel prehistorical novel series starting with Clan of the Cave Bear. |
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." |
Eclipse |
Eclipse was born to Orca and Karin in 1997. Along with her foster brother Atticus, Eclipse was sent to the Turtle Back Zoo, in West Orange, New Jersey, to be part of their display when she was three months old. Unfortunately, Eclipse is no longer compatible with the wolves at that facility and was in need of a new home. Wolf Park takes pride in the fact that pups born here always have a home here — so Eclipse has returned home on the evening of November 5, 2004. |
Echo |
Echo was born to Akili and Vega in April of 1992. She was donated to the Institute of Environmental Learning along with her brother, Ulrich, when 10 weeks old. The went to live with two half sisters who were born a year earlier. The Institute closed down in 1998 and the wolves were donated to the Binghamton Zoo in NY. Echo was the last of her pack and the zoo no longer wanted to keep wolves so, with the help of Lois, Echo's human puppy mother, we were able to bring her back home. Echo is very outgoing, but can be pushy at times, especially with women. |
Erin |
Erin - Born in 1998 at Wolf Hollow in Ipswich, Massachusetts, Erin is one of our newest arrivals. She is a little bit shy with new people at first, but once she gets to know you, she often won't leave you alone. This is not necessarily a good thing for she can be a bit nippy. We call it sharking and it is annoying to say the least. In other words, her coming up can be a good thing for if she is in a good mood, or a bad thing if she decides to be a pinchy Erin -- what with her habit of biting the backs of people's legs. Her pinching is not terribly hard, but hard enough that it definitely is uncomfortable. For the most part she is OK when people face her and make friends and over the past couple years we have managed to teach her to not pinch as much. |
Kailani |
Kailani, a Hawaiian word meaning "sea and sky," was born on April 12th, we think, when her mother Erin went into her den on the island in our Turtle Lake Enclosure, and refused to come out except for the most pressing needs, such as water, a little food, relieving herself, and threatening the knees of inquisitive staff who approached the den in hopes of hearing puppy squeaks. Staff only tried this once because we could tell Erin did not want us there. Tristan and Chetan repeatedly went to the den entrance but were never allowed in either. Erin displayed no species' prejudice when it came to the privacy of her den. Kailani's father is either Tristan or Chetan, but because of the date of birth, there is a better chance that Tristan sired the litter. |
Karin |
Karin - Born in 1994, Karin was "imported" from the Wildlife Science Center, in Minnesota. Karin is a sister to Orca. At the time, she was 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. |
Kiri |
Kiri - Born in 1993 and litter-brother to Socrates, Kiri is a black male wolf. When he was a pup, Kiri was very friendly with people, but had 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. Kiri is also very large, topping the scales at least 110 pounds. |
Marion |
Marion - Born in 1998 to Karin and Seneca, Marion is a virtual clone of her mom -- at least in how she treats other wolves... This is a reasonably good thing if you are a human for she is very outgoing and not shy at all. In fact, she is often an outright pest -- especially at those times when she is chewing on our clothing. She has been known to go from one person to another relieving them of all traces of shoe lace... We now systematically douse all shoes with anti-chew spray to keep her from chewing and possibly guarding peoples' shoes against them! |
Miska |
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. As a pup he was very submissive with humans and often elicited tummy rubs. However, even as a young pup he showed the same tendency to get mouthy as the classical 'Chinookling'. |
Orca |
Orca - Born in 1994, was brought from Minnesota as a tiny puppy. Orca is a wolf who as a youngster, had beautiful, distinctive black lines on his face and whose behavior was full of contrasts: on the one hand, Orca was spooky and afraid of strange noises and movements and could be very shy toward strangers. On the other hand, once he knew somebody he did a very exuberant greeting, even kissing them on the face in almost a frantic fashion. When he was a pup, 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! |
Renki |
Renki was named for Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, a well-known German ethologist and friend of Dr. Klinghammer, little Renki was taken, by staff member Dana Drenzek, from the den where he was born on April 12. When Dana handed him out of the den, his eyes were already open. His mother is Erin, and his father is either Tristan or Chetan. Because of the date of birth we think that it is more likely that Tristan sired the litter. The birth date is a well educated guess. Erin went into the den on April 12, and only came out to drink, get food, relieve herself and repel would be well wishers whom she obviously regarded as invaders. Erin displayed no species prejudice and the only difference she made between her mates, Tris and Chetan, and the human staff who approached the den, was that Tris and Chetan were allowed a little closer. Humans were in peril of having Erin attached by her teeth to their knees, and Tristan once found Erin clamped on his nose like a large furry nose ring when he overstepped his bounds. |
Ruedi |
Ruedi is named for Rudolph Schenkel, who published the first wolf ethogram (a catalog of wolf body language and facial expression which can be loosely called a wolf-to-human dictionary). He was born on April 12th, we think, when his mother Erin went into her den on the island in our Turtle Lake Enclosure and refused to come out except for the most pressing needs. This is an educated guess. None of us, whether human or lupine, were allowed in the den, though Tris and Chetan were vouchsafed permission to go a little closer, and permitted even look in the doorway. Erin was ready to use her teeth on tactless well- wishers of either species. The humans backed off hastily, but Tristan once got to briefly experience what Erin would be like as a nose ring when he over stepped his bounds. Meanwhile, Ruedi's father is either Tristan or Chetan, but because of the date of birth, there is a better chance that Tristan sired the litter. |
Socrates |
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 sometimes enjoy rolling over and having his tummy rubbed by the staff. 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 brothers 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 assert himself over his smaller brother. Of course having a 30 pound advantage did not hurt Kiri's dominance struggle either. Despite Kiri's obvious dominance, Socrates still does not have much respect for his brother. Although Socrates is good with the Wolf Park staff, like his younger brother, Miska, Socrates is just too difficult for visitors to meet. |
Tristan |
Tristan - Born in 1998 Tristan is the only male Wolf Hollow puppy we kept (his two brothers were donated to another facility in Knoxville, Tennessee). Tristan has grown to be among the biggest wolves in the pack. Well, at least the tallest. His is probably right around 90 pounds and is definitely his father Martin's son. Well, except for the teeth, Martin had an under bite. Tristan is a goof, thinks he's a lap puppy and also loves to rub on people, but in his case he sometimes pushes them right over. Despite his size, Tristan is also quite agile and loves climbing trees. He is one of only a few wolves who have shown much talent for this. |
Wolfgang |
Wolfgang was born April 18th, 2005 to Erin and Chetan. Wolfgang is studying under Sensei Renki to learn the art of pushing people's "on" button. He hasn't gotten Renki's persistence down yet but he appears to be observing and trying out the ideas. They don't always stick, though, and he enjoys meeting new people and occasionally sitting on their foot. Wolfgang is also beginning to push pack buttons as well. Both Renki and especially Ruedi get into spectacular jaw sparring matches with this upstart of a wolf. |
Wotan |
Wotan was born April 18th, 2005 to Erin and Chetan. Wotan is an adventurous young male who enjoys turning his "winning smile" on people to see if they will adore him. He has mastered the art of tilting his head "just so" to charm people out of attention or treats. In just the right light, Wotan resembles his grandfather, Socrates. You can definitely see a lot of his father in him as well. As he matured, Wotan has acquired political aspirations. Not only has he started to become the more dominant brother with Wolfgang, he has also successfully asserted himself over Ruedi and is even beginning to push Renki's buttons. If successful, Wotan will become the pack's new beta, and who knows, maybe someday even alpha! "Wotan for Alpha" has become a common catch phrase with staff as this young wolf 'campaigns' for a high ranking position in the pack. |
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Wolf Park is a nonprofit education and research facility which was established in 1972 by Dr. Erich Klinghammer. Along with research and seminars on wolf behavior, particularly reproductive and inter-pack social behavior, Wolf Park provides interpretive programs to school groups throughout the year by prearrangement. We are also open to the general public from May through November and Saturday evening for Howl Nights. The park is home to several packs of gray wolves, plus foxes and bison. We are incorporated under the North American Wildlife Park Foundation, Inc. which is located in the small town of Battle Ground, Indiana. |
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