Casual Nonchalance

Taken at Wolf Park - Battle Ground, IN

I felt that it was only right to start out all of my Wolf Park photos with one of the newest members of the Wolf Park pack, Dharma. Not to mention that she was the exuberant one to hop on me with my white shirt and light gray photographer's vest with her muddy paws.

Not born at Wolf Park, she was brought there to be socialized and has joined in the main pack. She's a black wolf (I believe) which is just a melanistic color variation, and definitely extremely distinctive from the others not only due to her coat coloring but also because of that vibrant orange of her eyes. The site says that she is shy, but when we met her last month, there was nothing shy about this wolf who was all legs and excitement as she came to greet all of us, some of us face to face.

Wolves tend to be monogamous when there are low wolf numbers, often mating with only one other until one of the mates die, at which time the remaining wolf will find another mate. The alpha male will have a corresponding alpha female and the pair will rule the pack of their respective genders in general.