Buku Caretaker

Buku was born en route to Mission: Wolf in the spring of 2009 with his siblings, Oreo, Batman, and Asia. The pups and their mother, Valley Spirit, arrived at the refuge with a male wolf-dog named Talon who had been confiscated from the same property. Valley Spirit and the pups were taken to an enclosure. When we opened the kennel, Valley almost immediately began to explore her new home, and within a few minutes discovered an old den. She cleaned out the den and, one by one, carried her pups down to it. For the next few weeks, staff did not see any of the pups, though Valley was starting to become very friendly.

When the pups finally did emerge, the staff were shocked to see what looked to be four Labrador puppies stumble out of the den. We had assumed that since he came from the same property, Talon was the pups’ father. We have since learned that the pups’ father was in fact a pit bull.

As a puppy, Buku proved to be a bit mischievous and would occasionally try to take items from his siblings, mother, and even human staff. He was also one of the bravest puppies and would regularly approach staff to be pet. As Buku grew older, he became more wolf-like – very shy and timid of humans. Today, he lives in the most secluded section of the refuge with his brother Oreo and adjacent to his brother Batman and Batman’s partner Fenris.