Steve and Riggs really do have an unusual relationship. This is not only due to the fact that the former is a human and the latter a real wolf.
They also kiss each other on the nose, nibble on each other and fall over each other like a wild couple.
But Riggs‘ present and future didn’t always look so rosy.
The travelling wolf
The „Apex Protection Project“, based in Los Angeles, is an organisation that has made it its mission to save wild animals. More specifically, the feared ancestors of our domestic dogs.
The project has been working to educate and rescue wolves since 2015 and says it has already saved more than 400 wolfdogs born in captivity.
Riggs is also part of this success story. One day, the clever animal escapes its owner and travels over 80 kilometres to Oklahoma.
However, survival there turns out to be rather difficult. Animals born in captivity do not have the necessary skills to cope in the wild without help.
So the lone wolf gets by by wandering around rubbish dumps and tracking down dog food that he finds in backyards.
An end to the stray life
This goes on for a few weeks until he is picked up by animal control in an illegal neighbourhood. He has 48 hours until the planned euthanasia.
Luckily, the „Apex Protection Project“ receives a call about Riggs‘ whereabouts and after a 19-hour drive, the rescue is on the scene.
As if his story wasn’t unusual enough, it turns out that the escapee has another speciality.
This is because Riggs is a melanistic or „black phase“ wolf. This means that, unlike conventional wolves with grey fur, his fur is streaked with black.
Funnily enough, this colouring will become greyer and greyer as he gets older. So, like us humans, Riggs is getting more and more grey hair!
An unusual friendship
Finally reunited with humans, Riggs finds his favourite person in Steve. The two are one heart and one soul. You could almost say they have a father-son relationship!
They play hide and seek, do agility training together and love to cuddle with each other. Steve affectionately says of his adopted son that he is „cunning and moody“ and has a „Peter Pan complex“.
„He doesn’t want to be anyone’s boss, but doesn’t want anyone to be his boss either,“
says Steve in a video.
Love really knows no boundaries – at least not the one between Steve and Riggs! Also, Riggs is probably the best example of a wolf who is just huggable!
Source: animalchannel.co
