Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center March 2015 newsletter

MARCH 2015

Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center conservation 路 education 路 preservation

Yuma

Our Fight for Wolves and Wildlife CWWC is starting an educational, emotional and powerful campaign with Fox 21 news starting in May and ending in August.

The teaser topic is Endangered and Misunderstood.

CWWC Partners with the Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Classical Academy.

950 Students being a voice.

Keep watching our updated information on our website and newsletter.

Lika photo bombing Yuma

We are proud to announce that CWWC has recently partnered with the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club in an effort to bring back wolves to Colorado! It has been decades since there was a documented wolf pack living within Colorado boarders.

Our partnership with the Sierra Club will help enable us to work together with educational programs, nature films and obtaining signatures for wolf and wildlife conservation.

We are excited about this venue and will keep you posted on our progress.

I’m that deaf gal that came in one day from Omaha Nebraska. Just stopping in and want to be part of the updates. Want to know how’s my troublemaker Na’vi is doing. Sure miss him sooooo much! Am so sad and want to come back and visit. Hope all the wolves are doing well too! I never went a day without thinking of Na’vi. So glad I get to share same birthday month as him. My fathers side of family lives in Denver. I should convince my parents to let me come back to Denver in end of April. I would totally drag my uncle to come visit. He loves wolves!!! A big fan! Give Na’vi a big smoooooch an hugs for me.

With love. Laura S.

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COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | MARCH 2015

MARCH 2015 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER

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Plan Your Next Visit

2015 Calendar of Events FULL MOON TOURS

CHECK-IN

FULL MOON FEEDING TOURS

April 4......................... 6:30pm

April 3 and 5

May 2.......................... 7:00pm

May 1 and 3

May 30........................ 7:15pm

May 29 and 31

July 4........................... 7:30pm

July 3 and 5

August 1...................... 7:15pm

July 31 and August 2

August 29.................... 6:30pm

August 28 and 30

September 26.............. 5:30pm

September 25 and 27

October 24.................. 5:00pm

October 23 and 25

November 28............... 4:00pm

November 27 and 29

December 26............... 4:00pm

December 27

Standard Full Moon Tour

Meet and greet Keyni - our ambassador wolf before the tour. Tour starts immediately after and lasts approx. 1 hour. One Saturday night a month!

Full Moon Feeding TouR

Combines our FEEDING TOUR with our FULL MOON TOUR. The Friday before and Sunday after our regular Full Moon Tours. Free snacks and beverages plus a traditional group wolf howl will be performed at the end of the tour. No meet and greet.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Visit our website for more information. All special events, full moon tours and full moon feeding tours are pre-pay.

JUNE 21st : Father’s Day Celebration

Reservation required!

719.687.9742

MAY 10th : Mother’s Day Celebration OCTOBER 31st : Howl-O-Ween Event NOVEMBER 26th : Thanksgiving Turkey Toss

y a D s ’ r e h t o M

with the

Wolves Sunday May 10th 9-10am Wolf Tour A Flower for Moms Snacks Meet & Greet with our Ambassador Wolf Keyni

$30 adults $15 kids 12 & under Prepay Event Reservations Required 719.687.9742

DECEMBER 20th : Winter Wonderland |4|

COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | MARCH 2015

MARCH 2015 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER

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CWWC Travels to Wolf Conservation Center February was a busy month for CWWC! We were honored to travel to Wolf Conservation Center located in South Salem, NY to participate in the exciting Species Survival Plan for both the endangered Red wolf and Mexican Gray wolf. The Species Survival Plan (SSP) is a program for selected species in zoos and aquariums that manages the breeding of a species in order to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining population that is both genetically diverse and demographically stable. In 2003 the WCC was accepted into the SSP and US Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Plan

for the critically endangered Mexican Gray wolf. There are approximately 400 Mexican Gray wolves in the world making it one of the rarest mammals in North America. As of the beginning of 2015, only 109 of these wolves live in the wild. WCC is home to 14 Mexican Gray wolves.

The goal of the Recovery Plan is to restore Mexican Gray wolves to a portion of their traditional range in the southwest United States.

In September of 2009, as a participant in the Red Wolf Species Survival Program (RWSSP), WCC was selected to care for three Red wolves.

The red wolf is one of two species of wolves in North America (the other being the gray wolf ). As their name suggests, red wolves are known for the characteristic reddish color of their fur most apparent behind the

ears and along the neck and legs, but are mostly brown and buff colored with some black along their backs.

Intermediate in size to gray wolves and coyotes, the average adult red wolf weighs 45-80 pounds, stands about 26 inches at the shoulder and is about 4 feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail.

As of early 2015, approximately 100 red wolves remain in the wilds on North Carolina. WCC is home to three Red wolves, a female and her two sons.

CWWC is a participant of the Species Survival Programas well. As of today, we house two female Mexican Gray wolf sisters who have retired from the program as well as three active swift fox participants.

Darlene assists with semen collection from a Mexican Gray male at the New York Wolf Center. Biologists estimate that thousands of plant and animal species will become extinct during the next 25 to 50 years. Captive breeding programs and the work of the SSP may be their only hope for survival. 路 Cheryl Asa, Ph.D., director of research for St. Louis Zoo, and Karen Bauman look at the quality of the Mexican gray wolf sperm under a microscope. 路 Wolf SSP participants are captured in their enclosures and transported to the collection and sampling area. Here Darlene assists the NY Wolf team transporting a Mexican Gray.

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COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | MARCH 2015

Darlene, Danielle and our friend Dani from Costa Rica helped to treat almost 50 dogs on Co Cal. The dogs received worm medicine, flea and tick treatments, along with having a health exam. We made a tally of how many more animals that CWWC could do on this under privileged island to help with spay and neuter on the next visit. 45 dogs being spayed and neutered could prevent several hundred new babies that will either starve or die from disease.

MARCH 2015 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER

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Wild Earth Guardians Presentation On February 17th CWWC traveled to Boulder to present to the Boulder branch of the Colorado Wolf Pack.

Colorado Wolf Packs are wolf advocacy groups that promote the return of an ecologically effective population of wolves to Colorado. They aim to be a constant, consistent force advocating for the recovery of wolves in Colorado by educating their local community about the nature of wolves, why our state needs wolves and corrects the myths and misinformation about wolves present in the public dialogue. Through activities

such as viewing documentary films, hosting guest speakers and visits by ambassador wolves, Wolf Packs educate their communities about wolves and their importance to maintaining a healthy ecological balance on the landscape and advocate for the protection of any wolves that migrate into our state.

The presentation included information not only about the Center and

our resident animals, but also information that is addressed throughout our educational tours. The history of the wolf in North America, including its persecution and extermination, the slow uphill battle for recovery in the lower 48 states and current events concerning the wolf were all discussed.

The meeting was a resounding success, everyone had a wonderful time and CWWC was happy to be honored as guest speakers!

If you are interested in getting involved in an existing Wolf Pack (currently in Denver, Vail, Pueblo and Boulder) or to form one in your locality, please contact Bob Brister at bbrister@wildearthguardians.org.

Kekoa relaxing in the snow

TCRAS

ADOPT ME FROM TCRAS: the no-kill shelter in Divide, CO 719.686.7707 · tcrascolorado.com

TCRAS

Hi! I’m Sappy Angel, but you can call me Angel for short. I had some rough times before coming to the shelter, that’s for sure. I was running on my own for some time with very little food, so I was extremely thin. But, I’m happy to say that I’m gaining weight and on a happy road to recovery! I’m also proud to tell you that I walk like a little lady on a leash...you should see it! I’m so very excited to see what my future has in store for me. My dream home would be one with healthy exercise and plenty of love and affection from a family that I could call my own.

Hi everyone! I’m Half Pint. Am I not just the cutest thing?

I have pretty beautiful seal point markings that make my remarkable blue eyes pop. Being a senior cat, getting into a loving home soon would be wonderful. Would you like to stop by and say “hey” sometime? I would love to be your friend!

Call TCRAS, the limited intake shelter in Divide, at 719-6867707 for more information or checkout our website to see all the available animals! Www.tcrascolorado.org

Survivor is a pure breed Alaskan Malamute who was found near death from starvation and numerous dog bites from a viscous dog attack. After rescue he lay in our kitchen for days not moving at all. He finally rallied and is now fully recovered. He is now lively and playful. He loves people and other dogs. (the hair on the top of his head shaved to treat wounds is growing out quickly now).

Malamutes are like Alaskan Huskies in that they are sturdy sled dogs with thick double coats and very tolerant of cold. But Malamutes are larger than huskies with males often near 100 lbs, they have brown eyes not blue and black gums not pink.

Survivor is young and his paws are very large suggesting he will get significantly bigger.

He is a marvelous dog and will be a fantastic companion for any family especially a family that loves the outdoors and backpacking. Survivor can easily carry a large pack and sleep out in the coldest weather.

He loves to run and play like the young 1 to 2 year old that he is.

adopt me from SLV Animal Welfare Society · slvaws.org 719.587.woof (9663) Non-Profit Shelter · Monetary Donations Always Needed |8|

COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER | MARCH 2015

MARCH 2015 | COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER

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FUN FACTS ABOUT

CWWC

· The Center gets all of its meat donated from various sources. The animals’ primary diet consists of beef, venison, elk and chicken. The wolves are fasted twice a week, usually on Thursday and Monday. Fasting prevents overweight wolves which is very unhealthy. Wolves in the wild typically only eat once a week. On average we go through 60-80 pounds of meat at each feeding. · Currently 17 wolves reside at the Center and all but 6 will walk on a leash. The ones that do, get the luxury of going on walks, pen rotations, and visits to the “Day Spa” for a nice change of scenery and new scents to discover. The ones that are wild in nature enjoy either human interaction or interesting things to play with such as deer and elk hides, raw bones, scents of other wolves on cloth, fish oil pills, and various other things they can chew on or destroy. · The youngest wolf we raised by hand was only two days old. Our oldest wolf was 17 when he died. Life expectancy is 10 to 15 years in captivity and 6-8 in the wild, but now averages less than 4 years because of hunting and trapping. · The current Center was drawn out on a napkin under a tree which is in the Red Fox enclosure. When the Center was purchased in 2006, there were no structures, and it only had a well without power. · The Skyfox Freeway is 60’ long and 13’ high. It was built in 2004 at the facility in Florissant to provide transportation for the fox to get from one enclosure to another so they would have more space due to the lay out of the terrain. With the move to our final current destination, the bridge was disassembled in three parts and the naval engineers erected it again where the Red Fox once again enjoy the views. · The Center was born in Lake George, CO. It was only 8.5 acres in size and to get there you traveled over 2.5 miles on washboard road conditions.

It was known as the Wolf Hybrid Rescue Center for 10 years. In 2002, the Hayman fire forced us to move 6 miles east to Florissant for 3.5 years where the Center changed its name to Wolf Rescue Center. In January, 2006 the mortgage was signed on our present location and construction started the best it could under winter conditions. Enclosures were built and on Halloween day, the last wolf by the name of Raven was moved to the new location now known as Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center. · Any animal that leaves this world from the Center is honored. Their body is cremated and their ashes are taken to a special place known as Chinook’s Nature Trail which overlooks the valley of the wolves, coyote and fox. It is our sacred ground and the ashes are spread around a pine and aspen tree that are entwined together, prayers are spoken and their spirit is released into the Colorado sky.