Captive male wolf raises pups on own after mate is shot

[Koa]

Single Wolf Dad Cares For Pups Alone After Mother Shot In Zoo Escape
By Hilary Hanson, Jul. 29 2017
THE HUFFINGTON POST

A male wolf at a zoo in England is caring for his pups alone after their mother was tragically shot last week.

Ember, a female Eurasian wolf at Cotswold Wildlife Park in Bradwell Grove, Oxfordshire, was spotted outside the perimeter fence on July 21, the BBC reported Monday. The zoo said at the time that staff shot Ember as a matter of public safety because they were unable to tranquilize her.

Read the full article here: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_597c9 ... 4ebb75bcd9

The threats toward the wildlife park and its employees are completely unnecessary. This was an unfortunate situation that had no other alternative, and I am glad to see that the father wolf is handling the pups well on his own.

[Writers Block]

I saw this article just the other day, but thank you for sharing it! I have to admit I'm a bit confused why this is newsworthy (I mean the wolf getting shot I understand people would be concerned about, however necessary) but wouldn't most male wolves try to raise the pups on his own if his pups were weaned when the female died? They're such community-oriented animals it seemed natural to me that a wolf would try to raise the pups on his own (especially in an environment like a zoo where he doesn't have to worry about wear his next meal is coming from on top of everything else). I thought maybe it was a case of sexism coloring our view of animals, but?? Maybe it's not so normal for one parent to tough it out with pups by themselves after all? In which case, I'm glad the male didn't reject his pups or anything.

[Koa]

I assume that yes any widowed captive wolf would have a much easier time raising pups on its own versus in the wild (where the remaining adult individual could abandon the pups for the sake of its own survival).

While HuffPo might have a social/political agenda writing the article (as they often do), I personally appreciate that the article exists to quell the "worries" of those that threatened wildlife park employees because they shot the mother, even if that's not what HuffPo's intended news angle was (which appears to be the case).

I did not hear about the wolf being shot until this article (and did not come across any articles on the singular issue of the wolf being shot until after I posted this one), and I expected to read that there was backlash against the park for shooting the wolf. The wolf and his pups are doing fine, so those people/wolf activists who threaten the employees needn't use any arguments (like those presented in this article by The Guardian via interviewees) of "the father cannot care for the pups on his own!" or "the family is doomed and need human help because you shot the wolf" to justify why the employees should not have killed the mother. To me, the news article is newsworthy in a context against mindless activists who will say anything to save a wolf and in that context alone.

[Writers Block]

Ah, that's true, I didn't really properly consider the politics behind the article. Thank you for explaining!

[Koa]

Ah, that's true, I didn't really properly consider the politics behind the article. Thank you for explaining!

No problem. Large news organizations like HuffPo and The Guardian tend to skew left, so they'll be more pro-environment, which affects the language and the content of wolf articles in turn!

[SilkenGalaxy]

Interesting article Koa! I figured that the male wolf would take care of the pups, considering that, as Writers Block said, wolves are naturally community oriented.

And yeah, I find politics tends to screw with how people look at situations, especially those concerning animals in captivity...

[Noctis_]

Was a reason ever given as to why Ember was unable to be tranquilized?