Her battle with cancer ended peacefully on Tuesday
Contact:
Chad Richardson, administrator
International Wolf Center
Office: 763-233-7132
Cell: 651-214-4989
chad@wolf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Luna, an ambassador wolf at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, was euthanized Tuesday, Nov. 26.
The 7-year-old wolf had undergone surgery in March 2019 to remove a mass on her left neck area. The biopsy report at that time was inconclusive, but the return of the growth in July led to a second biopsy with a diagnosis of an aggressive spindle cell sarcoma. The July surgery revealed several deep masses embedded in the muscle behind her shoulder blade. Extracting those masses was not advised by the Center’s trusted and longtime veterinarians. Staff prepared to manage Luna to the best quality of life possible despite the terminal diagnosis.
Wolf Care staff closely monitored her and watched in awe as Luna continued to be an active member of the retirement pack at the Center. When Wolf Care staff assessed Luna on Tuesday, she had a good appetite and took her medication, but the mass had begun to rupture, and her pain response was significantly increased. The decision was made to euthanize her based on a recommendation from the veterinarian in Ely.
“When the Center adopted Luna, she had some underlying health conditions that resulted in surgical intervention to provide a plate for a fractured femur,” said the Center’s wolf curator, Lori Schmidt. “At the time, surgeons didn’t think she would make it, but she proved them wrong. She was resilient and showed us the tenacity of wildlife that leads to animals’ survival in the natural world.”
Luna joined the Center’s pack in 2012. She was representative of the Great Plains subspecies of wolves and is a black color phase, believed to be found in less than 5 percent of the population in Minnesota. She and her packmates at the Center have educated tens of thousands of visitors at the Center’s exhibit in Ely, and thousands more around the world through regular YouTube videos, wolf logs and webcams.
In an effort to learn more about Luna’s condition, she was transported to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostics Lab for a necropsy. Those results will further educate staff as the Center continues to manage the five remaining wolves at the Center’s facility in Ely.
When she was in the exhibit pack between 2012-2016, she was known for displays of dominance, intense possession and assertive behavior. That intensity was heightened during weekly feedings and further increased when the 2016 pups were adopted. These behaviors proved too challenging for the new pups, so Luna was moved into the retirement enclosure in 2016. Initially, staff thought her behaviors were personality driven, but when she was moved her into the retirement enclosure, she became calm and rarely showed the snapping defensive dominance that she had in the main pack. After more research and consultation with specialists, staff believed that her behavior was likely a proactive move to defend herself and her vulnerable condition.
Luna was welcoming of the staff’s individual attention, especially after staff received advanced training on body work techniques that made her more active and improved her physical activity.
“This is an incredibly sad day at the International Wolf Center,” said Chad Richardson, the Center’s administrator. “We know that many of our members closely followed Luna over the years. When her cancer diagnosis was confirmed, we heard from many of those members and followers who were so saddened to get the news. To all of you: Thank you for your kind words about Luna. They’re all being shared with our Wolf Care staff who, as you could imagine, have taken this news especially hard.”
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. For more information about the International Wolf Center, visit wolf.org.
Internationally renowned wolf, lion and tiger researcher from India to present public program in St. Paul on March 17
Event featuring Dr. Yadvendradev Jhala is hosted by the International Wolf Center
Contact:
Chad Richardson, communications director
International Wolf Center
Office: 763-233-7132
Cell: 651-214-4989
chad@wolf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – One of the world’s leading experts on Asiatic lions, wolves and tigers in India will present a public program on Tuesday, March 17, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Yadvendradev Jhala is a leading researcher on predator biology in India. His public program will address the three animals and their prey, as well as human-wolf conflicts. The event is hosted by the International Wolf Center.
The presentation will be held in the meeting room at Summit Brewing Company, 910 Montreal Circle in St. Paul. There is a suggested donation of $10 for admission and seating is limited. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Pre-show entertainment featuring students from the Mactir Academy of Irish Dance to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day will run from 6:30 to 7 p.m. Dr. Jhala’s presentation will begin at 7 p.m. A cash bar will be available.
Dr. Jhala is a faculty member at the Wildlife Institute of India. He is also a research associate of the Genetics Program in the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institute and is the IUCN wolf specialist for India. He is a leading expert and influential thinker on aspects of human-wolf conflicts. In addition to studying wolves, lions and tigers, Dr. Jhala is also tracking snow leopards.
“We’re excited and proud that we can offer this kind of programming featuring an international expert,” said Grant Spickelmier, the executive director of the International Wolf Center. “Dr. Jhala is one of the world’s leading authorities on wolves, tigers and lions. We’re looking forward to learning more from him about wolves and other predators in India and how they are working towards successful predator-human coexistence.”
For more information about the program, contact the Center’s communications director, Chad Richardson, by email at chad@wolf.org.
Luna, an ambassador wolf at the International Wolf Center, euthanized
Her battle with cancer ended peacefully on Tuesday
Contact:
Chad Richardson, administrator
International Wolf Center
Office: 763-233-7132
Cell: 651-214-4989
chad@wolf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Luna, an ambassador wolf at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, was euthanized Tuesday, Nov. 26.
The 7-year-old wolf had undergone surgery in March 2019 to remove a mass on her left neck area. The biopsy report at that time was inconclusive, but the return of the growth in July led to a second biopsy with a diagnosis of an aggressive spindle cell sarcoma. The July surgery revealed several deep masses embedded in the muscle behind her shoulder blade. Extracting those masses was not advised by the Center’s trusted and longtime veterinarians. Staff prepared to manage Luna to the best quality of life possible despite the terminal diagnosis.
Wolf Care staff closely monitored her and watched in awe as Luna continued to be an active member of the retirement pack at the Center. When Wolf Care staff assessed Luna on Tuesday, she had a good appetite and took her medication, but the mass had begun to rupture, and her pain response was significantly increased. The decision was made to euthanize her based on a recommendation from the veterinarian in Ely.
“When the Center adopted Luna, she had some underlying health conditions that resulted in surgical intervention to provide a plate for a fractured femur,” said the Center’s wolf curator, Lori Schmidt. “At the time, surgeons didn’t think she would make it, but she proved them wrong. She was resilient and showed us the tenacity of wildlife that leads to animals’ survival in the natural world.”
Luna joined the Center’s pack in 2012. She was representative of the Great Plains subspecies of wolves and is a black color phase, believed to be found in less than 5 percent of the population in Minnesota. She and her packmates at the Center have educated tens of thousands of visitors at the Center’s exhibit in Ely, and thousands more around the world through regular YouTube videos, wolf logs and webcams.
In an effort to learn more about Luna’s condition, she was transported to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostics Lab for a necropsy. Those results will further educate staff as the Center continues to manage the five remaining wolves at the Center’s facility in Ely.
When she was in the exhibit pack between 2012-2016, she was known for displays of dominance, intense possession and assertive behavior. That intensity was heightened during weekly feedings and further increased when the 2016 pups were adopted. These behaviors proved too challenging for the new pups, so Luna was moved into the retirement enclosure in 2016. Initially, staff thought her behaviors were personality driven, but when she was moved her into the retirement enclosure, she became calm and rarely showed the snapping defensive dominance that she had in the main pack. After more research and consultation with specialists, staff believed that her behavior was likely a proactive move to defend herself and her vulnerable condition.
Luna was welcoming of the staff’s individual attention, especially after staff received advanced training on body work techniques that made her more active and improved her physical activity.
“This is an incredibly sad day at the International Wolf Center,” said Chad Richardson, the Center’s administrator. “We know that many of our members closely followed Luna over the years. When her cancer diagnosis was confirmed, we heard from many of those members and followers who were so saddened to get the news. To all of you: Thank you for your kind words about Luna. They’re all being shared with our Wolf Care staff who, as you could imagine, have taken this news especially hard.”
The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. For more information about the International Wolf Center, visit wolf.org.
International Wolf Center to welcome new executive director
Grant Spickelmier will join the pack in January
Contact:
Chad Richardson, communications director
International Wolf Center
Office: 763-560-7374, ext. 225
chad@wolf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – With 25 years of experience in wildlife education and zoo leadership in Minnesota and Oregon, Grant Spickelmier will take the helm of the International Wolf Center as executive director in mid-January.
Spickelmier comes from Oregon Zoo in Portland after eight years where he was curator of conservation learning, and previously from the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley where he served in multiple roles, including assistant director of education.
“Grant brings the skills and experience the Center needs to help spark public awareness and dialogue based on powerful science-based wolf education,” said Center Board Chair Nancy jo Tubbs. He’ll lead a staff of about 16 at the interpretive center in Ely,MN and the organization’s Minneapolis office, where he will be based.
“I’m honored to be chosen to lead the world’s pre-eminent wolf organization,” Spickelmier said. “Since I first heard a wolf howl in northern Minnesota, I’ve been hooked on helping this species recover in the United States. At the Minnesota Zoo, I created programs about wolves for kids and adults. I led travel programs in Alaska and with the International Wolf Center in Minnesota.”
Spickelmier’s work has focused on fundraising, strategic planning, partnerships, exhibit development, and management of large teams of staff and volunteers. He co-wrote the WolfQuest internet game used at the Center, and it is considered the premier wolf simulation game with 900,000 online players.
“I hope to continue building the Center’s leadership team successfully led by Administrator Chad Richardson in recent months, as we work to increase public understanding of how wolves and humans can successfully coexist,” Spickelmier said.
He was chosen by the Center’s board in partnership with a Minneapolis-based firm, CohenTaylor Executive Search, which conducted an extensive national search.
The International Wolf Center, founded in 1985, is known worldwide as the premier source for wolf information and education. The mission of the Center is to advance the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. The Center educates through its website, its ambassador wolves, museum exhibits, educational outreach programs, International Wolf magazine, and a beautiful interpretive center in Ely, Minnesota.
Tasmanian Tiger and wolves share DNA: University of Melbourne study
From examiner.com/au
The Tasmanian Tiger and the wolf had DNA in common, a new study from the University of Melbourne has discovered.
The study, conducted by Dr Charles Feigin, Princeton University and University of Melbourne, and Professor Andrew Pask, at the University of Melbourne, was published in the journal Genome Research.
Click here for the full story.
Denmark’s first wolf slaying trial sees conviction upheld
From Xinhua:
COPENHAGEN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) — The Danish Court of Appeal upheld on Wednesday a guilty verdict in the case of a 67-year-old hunter who had killed a wolf in violation of the country’s hunting act.
Wolves have been protected in most of the European Union (EU) countries since 1992. This means that hunting or trapping them is prohibited. Shooting a wolf can result in fines and imprisonment for up to two years.
Click here for the full story.
Three more wolves brought to Isle Royale
From the Daily Mining Gazette:
ISLE ROYALE — Will more wolves come to Isle Royale? That depends on what happens the wolves already on the island do over the next few months.
Three more wolves were successfully brought to Isle Royale National Park from the western Upper Peninsula on Sept. 13, ending the translocation for the fall. A fourth wolf was part of the transport, but died on the island the following weekend.
Click here for the full story.
Inside the harsh lives of the wolves living at the top of the world
From National Geographic:
In the blue light of an early Arctic morning, seven wolves slid across a frozen pond, yipping and squealing and chasing a chunk of ice about the size of a hockey puck.
The pond was opalescent at that hour, a mirror of the universe, and the wolves also seemed otherworldly in their happiness. Back and forth across the pond they chased, four pups scrambling after the puck and three older wolves knocking them down, checking their little bodies into frozen grass at the shore. In my notebook, in letters made nearly illegible by my shivering, I wrote the word “goofy.”
Click here for the full story.
Lynx and wolf may soon be roaming Britain’s wild places again. Is it a good idea?
From National Geographic:
Eurasian lynx used to stalk the forests of Britain. This magnificent cat’s greatest assets – a beautiful pelt, and sharp claws and teeth – were also tragically its curse. By around 700 AD our ancestors, either through sport, the fur trade or fear for the safety of their livestock, had hunted them to extinction. Now, a group of environmentalists wants to bring them back.
Lynx UK Trust hopes to transport six wild lynx (two males and four females) from Scandinavia and release them in the Kielder Forest, a 250-square-mile stretch of woodland in Northumberland. Here they would hunt and feed on the hundreds of roe deer that roam the region.
Click here for the full story.
B.C. predator cull would target 80 per cent of wolves in caribou recovery areas
From the Prince George Citizen:
The provincial government is proposing a predator cull that would kill more than 80 per cent of the wolf population in parts of central British Columbia that are home to threatened caribou herds, according to correspondence from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.
“The objective of this wolf reduction program is to reverse caribou population decline in the Tweedsmuir-Entiako, Hart Ranges, and Itcha-Ilgachuz herds,” says a memo signed by Darcy Peel, director of the B.C. Caribou Recovery Program. “To reverse caribou population declines, high rates of wolf removal (>80%) must be achieved.”
Click here for the full story.
Study suggests monogamous wolves make better parents
From swxrightnow.com:
In the rugged, sometimes violent world of the wolf, it pays to have mom and dad around.
The longer wolf couples are together, the more likely their offspring are to survive into adulthood, according to new research from the University of Idaho.
Click here for the full story.