Tristan's Last Howl as alpha at Wolf Park

Tristan, alpha male of our Main Pack for the last six years, howls with pack mates Wotan, Wolfgang, and Kailani. Two hours later, Tristan was mobbed by these wolves and deposed as alpha. Roughed up but not badly injured, he is in an enclosure alone for the first time in his life, although several wolves live nearby. His future might see him reunited with his daughter Ayla. July 3, 2009

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• wolf
• wolves
• wolf park
• Tristan
• Wotan
• Wolfgang
• Kailani
• Main Pack
• howl

[tomod64]

Tristan was deposed by the two younger males, Wolfgang and Wotan. Even at age 11, Tris was still in good shape and could probably have dealt with one of the two, but both young wolves together were too much for him. He was slightly injured and moved to a separate enclosure where he now lives with his son Renki and daughter Ayla. As leader of his own pack again, he seems quite happy.

[RitchyWolf]

Who's the alpha now?

[tomod64]

Wolfgang has decided that he is the alpha now and Wotan submits to him. Kailani still pushes both of them around when she wants to. Ruedi is lowest ranking and submits when he has to, but he still has a lot of social freedom. We'll see how breeding season works out.

[Puglous]

What usually happens to an Alpha after he's overthrown? Does he usually become the new Omega, a regular, an exile, or what?

[tomod64]

In Tristan's case, he was removed from the Main Pack's enclosure immediately and is living in his own private enclosure. He gets visits with wolves he likes, like Kailani and Ayla. We hope to match him with one of them for the long term. Some alphas do fall in rank when deposed and sometimes regain the alpha status later. Tristan was too old for that to happen and this was best for his future. He still watches the Main Pack closely.

[TMA62]

Will Tristan be allowed back into the pack after a new Alpha has been chosen? Or is he permanently disposed from the pack with the likelihood that he will be attacked again?

[tomod64]

Tristan is out of the Main Pack permanently. He is relaxing by himself in a nice enclosure where he gets occasional visits with his sons Renki and Ruedi. Yesterday we took him to visit his daughter Ayla, who has flirted with Tristan from her enclosure. After some excessive submission, she settled down and they were fine together. After a few more visits, Ayla and Tristan probably can live together full time- at least that's what we're hoping.

[actress4ever12]

Thats kind of sad:(((

[flylow2cre8u]

@ :49 - ooowwwww..... *pause a beat* Wait...Tristan...what were we howlin about? Oh thats right.....oooowwwwww

[wolfparkweek]

@ceresuolo We didn't want Tristan and Ayla to breed. Tristan had a vasectomy several years ago. Inbreeding is not necessarily a bad thing but in this case we did not want it to happen.

[wolfparkweek]

@plouto04 Yes, Willow and Twister join in with the wolves. Often they start the howling.

[plouto04]

was there coyotes in the backround?

[devastateurface]

What's the deal with the other pack members joining in the fray? Wouldn't it benefit them more to just let the challengers fight it out so they could end up with the strongest leader, instead of the one who just happened to avoid being dog-piled (ha!) on?

[ImissScooter]

0:48 my favorite part XD

[maharley27]

Et tu Brute!

[ColorImageChicago]

@HalloweenCometh Wolf Park is set on 75 acres, but much of that land is dedicated to our herd of bison. The Main Pack enclosure is almost 7 acres with a 2 acre pond.

[ColorImageChicago]

@ceresuolo Tristan is living with Ayla and Renki, his offspring. He gets along with them well, although those two sometimes pester him. Tristan got a vasectomy several years ago so although he and Ayla might mate (not very likely) no pups would result.