Possibly the last night of wolf howling in Hanau Wildlife Park
The wolf howling nights in Hanau's Alte Fasanerie wildlife park have been a firm institution for many years and are known far beyond the city limits. The eerie howling of the wolves always attracts hundreds of visitors to the forest in the evening under a full moon. However, the next wolf howling night this Monday (18:00) could possibly be the last event of its kind. Following the death of leader Inuq, the last two tundra wolves in the pack, Aslan and Monja, are finding it a little difficult to howl, as wildlife park biologist Marion Ebel, who raised the wolves, explained.
The reason for this is the reorganization of the pack after the death of leader Inuq at the beginning of September. During the previous wolf howl on Halloween, successor Aslan howled, but his sister Monja let him down. "She demonstratively kept her mouth shut," reported Ebel. "I hope it will be different this time and she'll start crying with me. Aslan is then guaranteed to start." Aslan has grown well into his new role as leader of the pack, which now only consists of two wolves, but Monja has not yet fully accepted the new situation.
If things don't work out this Monday evening, it will be the last wolf howl of this kind in the wildlife park, according to Ebel. "We now only have two wolves left, so the howling will naturally become less frequent," she explained. "What's more, they are now at an age where their voices are becoming more fragile, even if the howling is still so much fun."
The two tundra wolves are twelve and a half years old, a respectable age for these animals. According to the biologist, their counterparts in the wild only live to be seven years old on average. Ebel had Aslan, Monja and Inuq at the age of eight days and raised them with a bottle. She taught them to howl when the puppies were still lying on her stomach. "The animals are imprinted on me," said the biologist with a doctorate. But she herself is outside the hierarchy.
"In my experience, wolves are more likely to howl at full moon than at other times," reported Ebel. "But they can howl at any time. It just looks better with a full moon." Even if there is no howl guarantee for the event on Monday evening, visitors will definitely be informed by Ebel about the biology and behavior of wolves.
Spending time in nature during leisure hours often involves observing animals, and this is no exception at Hanau Wildlife Park. Visitors flock to witness the howling wolves under the moonlight, an experience that brings them close to these magnificent creatures. Despite the captivating performances of the wolves, their population is dwindling, with the loss of leader Inuq and the difficulty of his successor, Aslan, to get Monja to join in the howling.
Source: www.dpa.com
