Colorado Wolf & Wildlife Center

A couple miles north of Mueller State Park is the Colorado Wolf & Wildlife Center. I was too late making reservations for a tour when we were up here in August. This time I managed to get us two spots for today’s 4:00p feeding tour ($25pp), which I figured would guarantee seeing the wolves.

After spending the morning close to home with a 3-mile walk around the six campgrounds in the upper section of the park, we headed off for our tour. By this time, the strong winds that had been gusting all day had calmed down, and the sun had warmed things up nicely to around 70F.

The CWWC is a non-profit organization that is AZA-certified (AZA = Association of Zoos and Aquariums). It is dedicated to educating the public about wolves, which no longer exist in the wild in Colorado although the state is part their natural range. (Hopefully, a proposition on this year’s general election ballot will change that.)

The education efforts extend to wolf dogs, foxes, and coyotes. As well, thanks to the AZA-designation, the CWWC can participate in the Species Survival Program by providing a home to Mexican Gray Wolves, one of the most endangered of the wolf species, and Swift foxes.

The animals at the sanctuary are all rescues ... some from other sanctuaries and some from zoos. Funds raised from donations and tours — some of the interactive ones are pretty pricey — are used to care for the animals and improve the facilities/enclosures.

Our feeding tour started with a brief presentation that provided information about the wolves, their ranges, and their numbers — both past and present. It was quite eye opening. For example, according to info from the World Wildlife Federation, World Wildlife Fund, and others, there are fewer than 5,500 wolves in the US now. That’s down from 250,000-500,000 wolves that used to be around before colonists moved westward and eradication programs came into play.

The next part of the tour took us around the sanctuary. The group was a little larger than I would have liked, but everyone wore masks and tried to social distance as much as possible when we stopped in front of the enclosures. That we were outdoors, of course, made us more comfortable about doing the tour.

At each enclosure, our guide told us about the species of wolf housed there as well as the individual animal or pair. In response to a question about why there was only one or two wolves in each enclosure, we learned that “alpha animals” don’t “play well together.” In fact, we saw a demonstration of this when an alpha male in one enclosure took issue with an alpha in another enclosure being fed first. That said, our guide was careful to ensure that each animal got its fair share of the fresh meat that she threw over the fence.

While the feeding tour did ensure that we saw the wolves up close, their proximity to the fence was not great for photography. Looking at my photos afterwards, the animals look like they are in small cages. In actuality, they all have plenty of space to roam ... and disappear from view should they choose to do so. I got my better photos before the tour from a spot from which I could photograph the foxes and Kekoa, a timber wolf, from a higher vantage point.

Our visit to the CWWC was an interesting one. The presentation was eye-opening. The animals were a delight to see. And the group howl at the end of the tour — that set off a response from the wolves — was a small bit of fun.

A really cold night is in the forecast. Time to fill the hot water bottles I keep in the Cruiser for just such times 🤪Read more