Biology Essay - Arctic Wolf Behaviour free essay sample

Contrary to popular belief regarding its harsh habitat and the much-publicized climate change, the endangerment status of the arctic wolf is listed as â€Å"Least Concern† by the IUCN and WWF, and, in fact, it is exactly due to their unforgiving environment that the arctic wolf is one of the only subspecies of wolf that is unthreatened, as it leaves them relatively safe from human activities such as hunting and habitat destruction (with the possible exception of â€Å"global warming† and â€Å"climate change†). Due to the species’ abundance, as well as their unique and rare natural habitat, there has been much discussion as to the morality of keeping arctic wolves in captivity as the conditions and temperature are generally vastly different and ill-suited compared to their natural habitats. Illustration 1 – Arctic Wolf populated area Contrary to regular zoo custom of portraying the captive animals as active, carefree, and happy, the wolf pack we studied in Schonbrunn proved to be a rather sad and discouraging sight. Generally speaking, the wolves were not very active at all and spent much of the time lying on high ground, though there is a very good chance that our misfortune regarding the wolves’ (lack of) activity lies in the fact that they are an arctic species, and as such, would favour arctic conditions, and would be that much more affected by the warm, summery weather that we had on the day we went to the Zoo, especially seeing as there was no sign of any kind of facility or modification to their enclosure that would provide a kind of faux-arctic environment and â€Å"weather†/temperature, for example, in the scorching Viennese summer when it is not uncommon for the temperature to reach up to 35 ? Celsius (as opposed to temperatures of well under -30 ? C which are common in the Canadian tundra). Nonetheless, what little activity we did witness on our trip was just as discouraging as their lack of activity. Although we were unable to attend the feeding of the wolves, there wer e still a few pieces of untouched meat lying on the ground. In light of the wolves’ inactivity and obvious weakness for heat, we took this as a sign that the wolves’ usually sizable appetite was affected and overridden by their weakness to the heat; that they were too hot to eat. Their inability to handle high temperatures was quite apparent from the very start, as they were quite often sticking their tongues out and breathing heavily while walking/lying on the ground; something dogs often do when they get hot in the summer in order to cool themselves. Regarding their enclosure, we found out from a zookeeper that the terrain in it was not quite ideal. The wolves had plenty of logs and pieces of wood scattered about them so that it would resemble a forest and to make it more interesting for them to range the enclosure, but the terrain itself was actually too steep, as the enclosure was built into the side of the â€Å"hill† in the Schonbrunn Zoo. This means that the wolves are actually unable to make use of the logs to jump over when they are active in order to emulate their behaviour in nature, and amuse themselves, and, in effect, it reduced their area, as some parts were too steep to walk over, and made the bottom half very unappealing to them (especially as most of it was walled off by the small observer’s hut, in effect disabling them from looking outside their enclosure from half of the bottom part). When the wolves did come down to the fence, they did not appear to be fazed or unnerved by the observers, and, indeed, they did not show any signs of being affected by a relatively large audience. As for their societal structure, we were able to discern it fairly quickly due to the pack’s behaviour. They had a clear leader (alpha male) around which the pack was centered and whom they followed and obeyed. The alpha was slightly bigger than the other wolves, and was markedly more active and lively, as he was often standing on and pacing around the platform in the middle of the enclosure. Unfortunately though, we were also able to differentiate a wolf that seemed to be the omega (outcast/low-rank wolf) of the pack, as evidenced by his always being slightly more separated and distanced from the rest of the pack, often pacing around the lower fencing, as if he was trying to find a way out, though this was not particularly unusual as other members of the pack often emulated such distress behaviour, where they were constantly pacing back and orth aimlessly at a brisk pace, as if they were nervous and/or frightened. Overall, this behaviour is generally different to their natural behaviour in the wild. The most obvious and perhaps important difference is that, as illustrated in the previ ous map, the arctic wolf requires territories of up to 1000mi2, due to the scarcity of prey so far north, and is known to travel up to several hundred kilometres in a day in search of food. Obviously, this is a tremendous difference to the behavior we were able to observe on our trip, where the wolves spent most of the time lying on the ground or pacing around the enclosure in order to cool themselves. Their diet in the wild consists primarily of Peary Caribou and Muskox, which differs from the horse, beef, or mutton that they are usually fed in the zoo. Since arctic wolves have very rarely been hunted or came into contact with humans in the wild, they, unlike most wolves, do not fret to come closer to humans and do not appear to overly cautious or aggressive. While this is in accordance to the behaviour we observed in the zoo, it is likely that other animals in prolonged captivity would also adapt to constant human presence, and as such, we cannot attribute this to being their natural behaviour, as they are likely to have further gotten used to constant visitors and onlookers over time. Naturally, arctic wolves also have a high tendency to howl as a pack, which is mainly a way of celebration after a successful hunt/feeding, a means to unite the pack, protect their territory, and a way for the alpha to rally the pack together. Unfortunately, we were not able to witness such behaviour in the zoo, as they were most likely put off by the environment, were too demoralized and/or exhausted by the heat, or simply had no need for it at the time. Seeing as the wolves are having a very hard time adapting to the environment of the zoo, based off of our observations, there would have to be made several modifications and adaptations to their enclosure. First and foremost is the aforementioned problem of the weather and temperature in their enclosure. The wolves were clearly affected by it, as even the alpha male had his tongue out in order to cool himself for 10 straight minutes, followed later by regularly taking it back in, and sticking it out again after about 4-5 minutes in short bursts. As the wolves as a packed moved for about 100m in total during our visit, and were mostly sitting idly on the ground, the entirety of the pack had significant issues dealing with the high temperature, therefore requiring modifications to be made to their enclosure. The entirety of the enclosure would have to be moved slightly underground, similarly to the penguin’s section, in order to allow a cooling system to be implemented from the ceiling or walls of the enclosure, so that the wolves have fresh, cold air and temperature, more akin to their natural habitat. There would also have to be another adjacent section in the open, so that the wolves are not confined within one single room, as this would be as much a detriment to their health and spirits as the high temperatures. Hence, it would be optimal if the air from within the cool, enclosed part of their section could be circulated out into the open section as well. Furthermore, going back to the fact that the wolves have moved by what we estimated to be 100m during our observations, there need to be modifications made that would stimulate the wolves to run more, in order to keep them from being bored, and help them become more active. One way this could be achieved is through a simulation vaguely resembling a hunt: an instance of operant conditioning. A treadmill, which would have to be adapted to suit wolves, would need to be installed in the enclosure, and when a wolf reaches a certain distance, they would be rewarded with a piece of meat, or another such incentive. Although this would of course not be natural to them, it would provide a way of keeping the wolves active and happier, thus healthier as well, as it would try to emulate their behaviour in the wild, in which they are known to run hundreds of kilometres a day in search of food. As with scores of other species, there is an ongoing debate as to the morality and ethicality of keeping arctic wolves in captivity, especially considering their unique and un-replicable natural habitat, and the fact that there is no need for it due to their unthreatened status. Arctic wolves are a welcome addition to every zoo due to their rarity in most countries, and perceived threatened status. The general animal rights opinion on this matter is that it is morally correct to keep animals in captivity if it is in order to preserve the species, however, as this is not the case with the arctic wolf, most animal rights conventions lean towards the judgment that is in fact unethical to keep them in zoos. The argument for this hinges mainly on two main points: the animal rights, and animal welfare points. * The first point, which considers the rights and freedom of animals while taking into account their treatment and status, supports the notion that this is immoral. The animal rights question depends on three factors: â€Å"the treatment nd use of animals to achieve some human end†, â€Å"treatment of animals with the proper respect† and â€Å"violation of the animal’s right to live in freedom†. Although, from what we could discern on our trip, the animals were treated with the outmost respect by the visitors and the staff, the animals’ behaviour led us to believe that they were quite unhappy in the zoo, thus violating their right to freedom in their natural habitat, as they were not content within their confines. Furthermore, the very fact that the wolves are present in the zoo despite their limited freedom and obvious unhappiness is a testament to the fact that wolves are indeed being kept for human gain, as the wolves themselves do not appear to want to be in the zoo itself, and their lives are far more limited and dull. The second point, which considers the welfare of the animals in captivity, depends on factors such as the likeness and size of the enclosure in comparison to their natural habitat, the social structure of the species in the zoo, the proximity to humans and other species which may be unusual for the species in question, the animal’s activity in the zoo, and quality of life reg ardless of the potential life span in captivity. As was aforementioned, the physical surroundings of their enclosure were vaguely resembling that of the typical habitat of arctic wolves, though naturally disregarding the snow and cold, and were relatively small for a whole pack of wolves. Even though the actual social hierarchy of the wolf pack seemed akin to that of arctic wolves in the wild, there is definitely an issue regarding the proximity to and contact with humans, as arctic wolves rarely ever come into contact with human beings, and thus are unused to them. Although arctic wolves in captivity can live up to 20 years, compared to only 7 in the wild, from our observations, it is apparent that the quality of the wolves’ lives was very poor, when one takes into consideration their limited freedom, lack of activities, and vastly different and unfavorable conditions for a large part of the year, namely, the hot Viennese springs and summers. Henceforth, a clear conclusion can be made that it is in fact unethical to keep arctic wolves in captivity, as, asides from a longer lifespan, all of the discussed factors have a negative impact on the wolves’ life, as the conditions differ greatly from their natural habitat, and forces the animals to re-adapt to their new environment completely, all for human gain. Again, due to their species status, which is perceived by many to be threatened, arctic wolves can potentially be a very popular attraction in a zoo, thus having a comparatively significant economic impact. Although it is unlikely that the arctic wolves by themselves would bring many visitors to the zoo, they can certainly be one of the few highlights of the zoo, helping to bring in more visitors. The visitors will naturally have to pay for tickets to enter the zoo, and are more than likely to have further expenses in the zoo, such as buying souvenirs, refreshments, or going for a meal to one of the restaurants at a zoo, thus generating income for the zoo and the various affiliated restaurants, vendors, and shops over a period of time. In return, this money is invested in the maintenance of and improvements to the zoo, helping maintain the quality of the enclosures and improve them. Furthermore, since the wolves and other species in general yield litters of more pups due to the technological help from the veterinarian specialists, the zoo can sell the pups to other zoos and institutions, which, though not ethical, can serve to improve its budget, and will not be as harmful to the wolf, since it will not have known any other habitat or way of life, and will adapt to it more easily. In addition to this, the zoo will get taxed by the government of the country, thus also helping, however slightly, the nation’s economy and budget. Overall, in my observation of the arctic wolves, I have found that their behaviour in captivity differs significantly from that which can be expected from them in the wild. The major issues are the greatly unfavourable temperature and continental climate of Vienna, which brings scorching summers of up to 30-35 degrees celcius, which are nigh unbearable for the arctic wolves, who are accustomed to degrees of as low as -35 degrees, as well as the fact that the wolves’ movement and freedom has been incredibly limited in comparison to their territories of up to 1000 square miles, essentially leaving them unable to exercise and keeping them from doing any meaningful activities. Unfortunately, any possible modifications that could be made to better accommodate the wolves are highly unlikely to be realized, as they would require a complete overhaul and replacement of the wolves’ enclosure, which would cost a lot of money to construct, and is not worth it for the zoo. Regarding the wolves’ economic impact, they are a most welcome addition to any zoo due to their rarity and isolated habitat, as well as the fact that they are a safe bet to at tract visitors, as wolves are a very popular species with children of all ages, thus ensuring a steady indirect revenue from their presence in the zoo. Ultimately, however, the very presence of wolves in captivity is immoral and unethical, as there is no threat to them or other cause that merits their being kept in captivity and under conditions that are obviously detrimental to their physical health and happiness, and are kept in zoos solely for the profit of humans. Unfortunately, however, this is unlikely to change any time soon, for as hard as animal rights activists try, zoos and other organizations and groups that profit from the arctic wolves are adamant in continuing to run their businesses as they wish, as long as there are no laws preventing them from doing so, leaving us only with a hope that, over time, the conditions of the wolves and other animals in zoos the world over will be at least improved to the point where they are as comfortable and happy in their enclosures as is possible, and suffer no consequences from being in captivity.