NANUK
Polar bear
- Gender: male
- Birthdate: 28.04.2009
- Origin: Montana, USA
- In pack with: Una
... appearance
Nanuk is a fluffy, light, and handsome wolf. He looks friendly, because he often tilts his head in a questioning way, which unfortunately, is due to problems with his cervical spine. He has mainly brown-white fur (mostly white) and the largest head of all our wolves. Especially in winter you can hardly resist a comparison with a lion, if you look at his lush and fluffy neck fur.
... character
Nanuk was a real leader from the beginning on. This tendency did not change over time. Thus, he was the pack leader in various different pack constellations throughout his life, even though he was not always in the best of health. However, with increasing age, Nanuk appreciates being the only male wolf in the pack because it means a life without stress. Only when other male wolves pass his enclosure, the old fighting spirit returns and Nanuk fervently defends his territory and his wife through the fence. Speaking of wifes, when Una has her crazy 5 minutes, she also invites Nanuk to play, who immediately transforms into a real youngster again. Then both wolves are happily running through the enclosure, however, compared to earlier times, not for such a long time anymore. That makes sense because in old age one has to take sufficient breaks.
Nanuk is sometimes scared by novel objects. This might also be due to the fact that he cannot see properly with one of his eyes. So his strategy is, to be scared in the first instance; better safe than sorry. When an ominous object does not move for quite some time, Nanuk overcomes his fear and inspects it from a closer distance. However, objects that are positioned above his head are always terrifying for Nanuk, no matter if they are new or familiar. With unfamiliar people, on the other hand, Nanuk does not have a problem at all. On the contrary, his favorite activity is scent-rolling in people. Aftershave, detergents, sun cream, etc., all of this smells sooo interesting and good that Nanuk wants to transmit these odors to his own fur. To do so, he really makes an effort and pushes his whole body against the people, who really need a solid standing to not lose their balance and fall. That is why during pack visits, there is always one trainer standing behind the people to support them.
... in puppy age
Nanuk was really unlucky after his birth. His mother did not want to raise him, so he had to be bottle-fed from the beginning. Due to this he greatly appreciated the closeness of his people. In order to get on the lap of his foster parents – it was just easier to sleep better there - he got used to demanding this privilege with a loud howl.
Nanuk's second bad luck in life was Otitis media (an infection of the middle ear space). Although it healed well, it left a visual impairment and as a result, he can’t see too far into the distance.
However, all that could not prevent Nanuk from being a happy, cute, and self-confident puppy who enjoyed his life. By the way, some of his hand raisers used to call him bulldog when he was young as he loved to run through the enclosure with his head down, just like a steamroller.