GHENGIS KHAN 1996-2010
The wolf that I adopted at Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, the mis-spelled alpha wolf known as Ghengis Khan, passed away on 21 Jan 2010. He died suddenly, on a day he had been very active, presumably of a heart attack or stroke.
Ghengis was nearly 14, old for a wolf, having been born at Wild Spirit as one of seven pups on Easter Sunday 1996. He outlived his three brothers and one of his sisters.
He was the indisputable alpha wolf of the huge 50-wolf pack at the sanctuary, and never backed down from anything. He was known as the star of the sanctuary tour, clearly the biggest and most powerful wolf presence there. Only the two most experienced handlers could enter his enclosure, only when they had to, and they had to do so with protective clothing and something to keep him at a distance. Ghengis knew he was the head wolf, and he acted like it. Other wolves (unable to instinctively understand the chain link fences), hid their food from his view.
I was proud to have known Ghengis, and to have met him on four different occasions, each time bringing him a beef heart, the traditional portion of the kill reserved for the alpha wolf. It was very special that I could spend most of a day with him last October, and to have personally fed him over 20 pounds of meat (heart and liver) that I brought to the camp just for him. Artemesia, his female companion for many years, is devastated and inconsolable, as am I.
