The sound of Rama, a rescued wolfdog, howling in his new sanctuary home in California is incredibly poignant. A video of the 2-year-old pup letting out his first howl with his new pack has gone viral.
“The first howl for every one of our guys is always very special,” Apex Protection Project’s Director of Operations, Steve Wastell told The Epoch Times. “A lot of them come from human families, and they don’t necessarily even know they’re a wolf.”
Sharing more about Rama’s rescue, Mr. Wastell said the large, energetic wolfdog was bought by an elderly couple for $4,000 from a breeder. Rama, who was 6 months old at that time, came to live with the 75-year-old lady, her 86-year-old husband, and their four other dogs.
However, Rama, who is 75 percent wolf and 25 percent Samoyed, couldn’t be contained and kept escaping and causing havoc in their neighborhood. Although Rama wasn’t aggressive, things got intense on one occasion when he was playing with a neighbor’s dog and got into a fight.
The neighbor attempted to intervene and break it up, but he was accidentally bitten and threatened to call animal control if Rama continued to escape. A week later, the wolfdog escaped again, and the displeased neighbor was on the verge of making the call. In the nick of time, an appeal was made to the Apex Protection Project, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting wolves and wolfdogs through educational experiences, rescue, and advocacy.
“We did not have room for another wolf dog at the time,” Mr. Wastell said. “But when we went to meet him, he was an incredibly special creature, and there was just something about him that we fell in love with. And we said we'll try and find him a home.
However, a few days later Rama escaped again, and, in desperation, Mr. Wastell and his wife raised the money for an enclosure for Rama at the sanctuary and had it built in three days.
From the moment Rama arrived at the sanctuary, it was clear that he was an anomaly. Wolves are usually very shy of people, but Rama is the opposite. Incredibly friendly and social, he loves to be snuggled and petted.
“Wolves and wolfdogs have different personalities just like humans do. Generally, they are skittish and fearful, because basic genetics make them fearful of humans,“ Mr. Wastell said. ”But once in a while, one of them is not.”
Having arrived a little underweight—as his previous owner had trouble feeding him—sanctuary staff put Rama, who now weighs 90 pounds, on a raw food diet, on which he gained over 10 pounds.
When Rama let out his first howl, it was an incredibly special moment at Apex Protection Project.
“I didn’t know if he'd howled before. It sounded to us like he hadn’t,” Mr. Wastell said. “Sometimes, a lot of our rescues, when they first try to howl, it doesn’t come out the right way.”
Rama was soon introduced to the other wolves at the shelter, the first one being 7-year-old Thor, the leader of the pack “Rama had been a big fish in a little pond at his old home,” Mr. Wastell said, adding that he'd been able to be boss over the other dogs with his strong personality.
However, on meeting Thor, Rama had to adjust his style.
“For a moment, Rama thought he was the boss,“ he said. ”But Thor just showed him his teeth, and Rama got down real low, and started licking Thor’s jaw.”
Describing Thor as “in charge but loving, like a father,” Mr. Wastell and his wife, Paula Ficara, Executive Director took the pair out hiking together.
Next, Rama was introduced to a dominant female wolf named Vesper, to show him he wasn’t in charge and that he needed to learn from his elders.
Third, Rama was introduced to Rocky, who has now become his best friend.
“They’re madly in love with each other. Rocky’s the kind that, if he was human, he’d be your best friend, your best buddy. He’s a chill, loving, friendly animal who likes to play,” Mr. Wastell said.
The pair live and hike together, and spend all day wrestling.
With the help of Mr. Wastell and other staff members, Rama has learned to calm down and has turned into a “fine young man.”
Since Mr. Wastell spends more time with Rama, teaching him how to socialize and take food gently, their bond has become stronger.
Apex Protection Project receives three to seven emails every week from people wanting to give up a wolf or wolfdog. Mr. Wastell sees many of them being euthanized or tied up in a backyard since they don’t make good pets.
“They’re very difficult,“ he said. ”It’s kind of like having a 2-year-old child with teeth.”
To educate more people, the organization does school presentations with some of its wolves and Rama has become one of their advocates.
