#53 TRENDING IN Environment 🔥

How a Wolf Sanctuary Is Making a Difference in Animal Conservation

Environment

December 12, 2024

A few hours south of Colorado Springs, nestled in the remote mountains, residents at Mission: Wolf awake in the early morning to the howling of wolves. Mission: Wolf, a wolf sanctuary near Westcliffe, Colorado, promotes conservation, respect for animals, and education about wolves. They have cared for more than 100 wolves since their founding in the 1980s, as well as caring for surrendered horses.

Shakeb Tawheed from Pexels

Let us slide into your dms 🥰

Get notified of top trending articles like this one every week! (we won't spam you)

Why Wolves Need Our Help

The gray wolf has been classified as endangered since 1978, but its history of endangerment dates back long before that. When people began moving into Yellowstone, Montana, they feared that wolves were a threat not only to them but to their livestock as well. Wolves were eradicated from the Yellowstone area in the 1920s, but people miscalculated the ecological benefits of having a local wolf population.

First, the elk population nearly doubled once they no longer had a main predator, and the elks overgrazed throughout all of Yellowstone, which caused problems further down the food chain. The population of mice, rabbits, and other prey that normally hide in those grasses for protection rapidly declined. Further, the elk herds grazed along river banks, where they normally did not, which caused increased erosion, which then made the water less clean. After decades of negative cascading effects, wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in1995.

The gray wolf is now considered a “recovering” endangered species, as it is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, and under most state laws as well. Many people think they still need this protection, as the current spaces they occupy in the U.S. make up only 20% of what their historic range used to be. Wolves are still hunted and trapped by humans, which is illegal, though many argue that their populations have recovered to a point where hunting should be legal.

But hunting and endangerment unfortunately are not the only issues faced by wolves today. Sometimes people try to own wolves as pets, which is legal in many places in the United States. However, wolves are not meant to be pets; they are a wild animal with instincts that cannot be trained out of them.

People who want wolves as pets often don’t understand this, and try to keep them in small spaces or feed them anything but a natural diet. This is an unhealthy and sometimes stressful living environment for the wolves.

Sadly, these wolves have been raised in captivity and would no longer be able to thrive in the wild so they have to be kept in an enclosure for the rest of their lives. Mission: Wolf takes in wolves that have been brought up in captivity - frequently ones that used to be pets, and occasionally ones that used to be actors in movies - and gives them as close to a wild life as possible.

Mission: Wolf keeps captive-bred wolves in large, outdoor enclosures so that the wolves can have a lot of freedom and can feel like they live in the wild. They are fed an all natural diet of mostly raw meat and they often share an enclosure with one other wolf for companionship and play.

molochkomolochko from Pexels

Take the Quiz: Which Sweet Home Character Are You The Most Like?

Find out which Sweet Home character you resonate with!

The Story of Mission: Wolf

Since its founding in the 1980s, Mission: Wolf has cared for and housed more than 125 wolves, and it all began because of the dedication of just a couple of people who wanted to make a difference. Kent Weber, the co-founder of Mission: Wolf, and his partner, started taking in wolves that used to be pets but could no longer be taken care of by their human owners. Weber decided to move to the mountains of southern Colorado so the animals could have a space away from the hustle and bustle of society.

Mission: Wolf became more than just a sanctuary for wolves; Weber started educating people about conservation and “keeping wild animals wild”, according to Mission: Wolf. They officially became a non-profit organization dedicated to wolf conservation and education in 1988, and since then they have led educational programs in more than 30 states and allowed over one million people to meet a wolf face to face.

C. Edward Olson from Pexels

Conclusion

It’s wonderful that Mission: Wolf has been able to provide care for these animals and give them a happy life, as well as educate people on the importance of wildlife conservation, but it’s unfortunate that places like Mission: Wolf even have to exist. The only reason why animal sanctuaries are necessary is because humans don’t understand how to leave wild animals in the wild and stop trying to domesticate them.

Sanctuaries like Mission: Wolf exist in order to fix human mistakes, and to help give animals the best life they can have since they can no longer thrive in nature.

The story of the founding of Mission: Wolf is important because it shows that it takes only a couple of committed people to make a difference. You, too, can make a difference in an issue that is significant to you. There are also ways that you can help to support Mission: Wolf and their goal of animal conservation.

Mission: Wolf is open on certain days for visiting, where you can have the chance to meet one of the resident wolves there and learn more about the organization. You can also volunteer at Mission: Wolf as part of a program or on your own, long term or short term.

Zooming out to look at the broader picture of animal conservation and other animal-related issues, there are a lot of ways that you can make an impact. You could volunteer at your local animal shelter, start a club at your school that educates others on these issues, have a bake sale to raise money for animal organizations, and so much more.

As a place fully dedicated to making an impact through conservation and education, Mission: Wolf can be an inspiration to us all. Whatever issue you are passionate about, no matter how big or how small, you can have an impact. Whether it’s animal and environmental conservation, similar to Mission: Wolf, or something entirely different, be the person who takes that first step into changing the world.

Lucy Egan
1,000+ pageviews

Lucy Egan is a sophomore at Terra Linda High School in Marin County, California. She is interested in animal conservation and enjoys playing tennis, traveling, baking, scuba diving, and reading.

Want to submit your own writing? Apply to be a writer for The Teen Magazine here!
Comment