© 2015 Nanoflix/Jakob Hall. Wolf alpha male.

Wolves’ Den Kolmården Wildlife Park

The most risky photo assignment so far. Kolmården Wildlife Park commissioned to photograph the wolves' different characteristics on an individual level. The wolf pack consisted of the alpha pair, and their cubs of different ages. The youngest pups are normally placed in a separate enclosure where they can grow up separately. The wolf that wanted to pose the most was the alpha male "Zeke".
Type:
Photo assignment
Date:
© 2009 Nanoflix/Jakob Hall
Credits:
Kolmårdens Wildlife Park

© 2009 Nanoflix/Jakob Hall

The pack leaders are the alpha male and female (see above). These two animals are dominant over all the other wolves in the pack. The alpha male and female are the only wolves that breed and produce pups in the pack, and they also get to eat first at feeding time.

Wolves have been at Kolmården Wildlife Park for around 50 years. For several years, visitors were allowed to enter the wolf enclosure together with attendants in the program “Close contact wolf”. On June 17, 2012, a vet was found dead inside the wolf enclosure. She had been alone with eight adult wolves, without alarm and without radio. After the accident, the program “Close contact wolf” ended. In the future, the staff’s contact with wolves had to take place through barriers. In December 2016, the park and a former head of work environment were convicted as responsible for the incident. According to the district court, the most serious mistake was that the caretakers had to work alone with the wolves.

The tragic accident has led to the decision that Kolmården’s last remaining wolves are to be put to death. And there will be no new wolves, at least not in the foreseeable future.