Meet Our Animals

© Schepker

Wolf

Gray Wolf (Canis lupis)
Range: Northern portions of North America, Europe, and Asia
Status: Some subspecies are threatened, but the Alaskan Grays have a healthy population in Canada.

While exterminated from some areas of their former range, their numbers tend to be increasing in most areas. This is most likely due to decreased hunting pressure. The gray wolf primarily hunts large hoofstock and a pack is quite capable of taking down a moose. Wolves have very powerful jaws that are capable of applying 1,500 pounds of pressure per square inch. Compare that to German Shepherds at 750 pounds per square inch or humans at a measly 300 pounds per square inch.

Gray wolves do occasionally attack humans but the incidents often turn out to be provoked, or the wolves themselves are ill, such as with rabies. In captivity some people keep wolves as “pets” or even hybridize them with domestic dogs for the pet trade. Wolves are separated from the domestic dog by thousands of years of evolution, and the behavior differences are large and obvious. Wolves in captivity can pose a risk to their human caretakers and should be dealt with cautiously.

Amadeus Wolf

Amadeus Wolf was donated to the Center by a local wolf breeder. We had a good bit of learning to do about caring for wolves, and Amadeus was an excellent instructor. He ate the furniture that had survived dozens of infants before him, put everything he saw in his mouth, and yet was so loveable and full of life that we couldn’t stay angry, no matter the damage he did.

Ami grew up with Babe, a husky-collie mix who taught him manners. But by the time he was eight months old, Babe had had enough. She moved back in with her dog pack and Ami got a new companion in his sister, Hopa.

The Center does not breed wolves, as there are many excellent wolf breeding and management programs already in place. Ami really likes to show off for visitors, explaining to the women that he is big and bad and an excellent provider, and encouraging the men to give up and leave. He has an engaging personality, enjoys treats, and loves to roll in all kinds of scent enrichment. He swims in his little pond year-round, and is happy to shake his wet-dog scent on visitors.

Wicicala “Hopa” Wolf

Hopa is a shy lady wolf who came to the Center when she was about eight months old. She had been injured, probably hit by a car, and had been picked up by animal control officers. The vet at the shelter determined she was a wolf, not a Shepherd mix, and she called a sponsor of the Center to see if we could take her. She had several serious injuries, including a fractured pelvis, a fractured elbow with the joint badly damaged, and an abscessed tooth we pulled with two fingers when she was sedated for the X-rays.

Ami was lonely and in need of a companion. He was crazy about Hopa from the moment he saw her. Though he was housed next door to her, he dug under the shared wall and pushed all his toys through as gifts to her. They slept outside, each against the wall on their own side, shoulder to shoulder.

The X-rays helped us estimate Hopa’s age, which was the same as Amadeus. And she certainly looked like him. We asked Ami’s breeder to track the other cubs from the litter. One had been given away after she ate all of the family’s furniture. She was chained outside at her new home, broke the lead, and escaped about three weeks before Hopa was found. So we suspect Hopa and Ami are brother and sister, reunited and happy. Hopa’s name means “beautiful little girl wolf” in Sioux.

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