Public can visit during construction
Contact:
Chad Richardson, communications director
International Wolf Center
Office: 763-560-7374, ext. 225
A dynamic new exhibit is coming to the International Wolf Center to replace the celebrated “Wolves and Humans” exhibit that has been on display at the Center since it opened in 1993.
To prepare for the new gallery, staff are documenting the current exhibit and will dismantle it in February. Beginning February 18, the Wolves and Humans exhibit will be closed to the public. The rest of the Center will remain open to visitors on weekends for its usual winter hours. While the exhibit area will be closed, visitors will still be able to watch the Center’s ambassador wolves, listen to numerous programs in the auditorium and watch wolf-related movies in the theater.
“Board members, wolf biologists, volunteers and staff have been planning with the design team for nearly a year,” said Rob Schultz, executive director. “The innovative exhibit will will use interactive technology and powerful stories to teach kids and adults about the roles that wolves play in ecosystems, and how they are managed to co-exist with humans.”
Since the original exhibit was built in the early 1980’s by the Science Museum of Minnesota, the world has learned much more about wolves. Scientific research is evolving, the climate is changing, research is expanding and biologists now have a deeper understanding of wolves and wolf behavior than when the original display was created.
“The new exhibit will give visitors, especially families, an opportunity to experience wolves in fun, creative ways,” Schultz said. “A howling room will simulate what it’s like to hear wolves at night in the wilderness, an airplane cockpit will recreate the unique birds-eye view that just a few biologists get while tracking and observing wolves from the air, and a science lab will help children of all ages explore the biology of wolves.”
The new exhibit has been made possible through a $1 million grant from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. The International Wolf Center Board has been deeply appreciative of support for the project by Representative Rob Ecklund, Senator Tom Bakk, Ely Mayor Chuck Novak, and the Ely City Council.
Installation of the new exhibit will begin in early April, and the staff anticipate it will be open to the public by May 1, in time for the busy summer tourist season in Ely..
The Center’s winter hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.
Wolves in Germany Are Making a Comeback, And The Military Is Weirdly Helping
From ScienceAlert.com:
Humanity has always had an uneasy relationship with wolves. They loom large in our ancient mythologies as fearsome beasts; over the millennia, that fear has led to devastation of wolf populations across Europe, including 19th century Germany.
In the 1960s, numbers of wolves (Canis lupus) in Europe hit an all-time low, veering perilously close to the brink of extinction. But in recent years they’ve been gradually coming back to Germany; now, new research has found they are assisted by an unlikely ally – the German military.
Click here for the full story.
Female wolf settles in the Netherlands and may have a mate
From DutchNews.nl:
A female wolf which has been roaming the northern part of the Veluwe national park in Gelderland can now be considered to be the first wolf to be officially settled there and off-spring may be on the way, wolf monitoring organisation Wolven in Nederland claims. A wolf is considered settled when it stays in a certain area for longer than six months. DNA in the wolf droppings, show that this is the case for Veluwe wolf GW998F, the organisation said, while droppings from a male wolf and tracks in the snow from both animals suggest that the female has found a mate.
Click here for the full story.
Bill to keep Idaho wolf control board headed to governor
From MagicValley.com:
Click here for the full story.
An Ancient Rural Culture Deals With Wolves Halfway Around The World
From the Mountain Journal:
Click here for the full story.
Mongolia: An Ancient Rural Culture Deals With Wolves Halfway Around The World
From MountainJournal.org:
Click here for the full story.
Ferry County, Washington, ranchers fed up with wolf attacks, demand state action
From KREM.com:
FERRY COUNTY, Wash. — The number of wolf attacks on cattle in Eastern Washington has doubled in the past two years as the wolf population continues to climb.
There are about 120 known wolves in the state of Washington. Of the 22 known wolf packs, 19 are east of the Cascades. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said the wolf population is still growing, under protections from state and federal law.
Click here for the full story.
Europe’s Wolves Are Back, Igniting Old Fears and New Tensions
From the Courthouse News Service:
CASTELBUONO, Sicily (CN) – Across Europe, the long-forgotten wolf is making a comeback after decades of protection from hunting. But as the wolf packs grow so do the angry pleas from farmers, shepherds and fearful communities.
Reports of wolf attacks on flocks of sheep and other livestock are common in Italy, France and Germany. With the attacks come growing demands by many officials to strike back and exterminate the predators – as was done for centuries.
Click here for the full story.
Bill to keep Idaho wolf control board operating clears House panel
From the Idaho Statesman and the Associated Press:
BOISE, IDAHO – Legislation to keep operating an Idaho board that pays a federal agency to kill wolves that attack livestock and elk moved to the full House on Wednesday.
The House Resources and Conservation Committee voted to move ahead with legislation to repeal a section of Idaho law that would end the five-year-run of the Idaho Wolf Depredation Control Board.
Click here for the full story.
Mexican wolves caught in traps in New Mexico
From The Sacramento Bee and the Associated Press:
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
The death of a Mexican gray wolf and injuries to another prompted environmentalists on Tuesday to call on New Mexico lawmakers to ban trapping on public land.
Click here for the full story.
Wolf Discovery gallery coming to the International Wolf Center in Ely
Public can visit during construction
A dynamic new exhibit is coming to the International Wolf Center to replace the celebrated “Wolves and Humans” exhibit that has been on display at the Center since it opened in 1993.
To prepare for the new gallery, staff are documenting the current exhibit and will dismantle it in February. Beginning February 18, the Wolves and Humans exhibit will be closed to the public. The rest of the Center will remain open to visitors on weekends for its usual winter hours. While the exhibit area will be closed, visitors will still be able to watch the Center’s ambassador wolves, listen to numerous programs in the auditorium and watch wolf-related movies in the theater.
“Board members, wolf biologists, volunteers and staff have been planning with the design team for nearly a year,” said Rob Schultz, executive director. “The innovative exhibit will will use interactive technology and powerful stories to teach kids and adults about the roles that wolves play in ecosystems, and how they are managed to co-exist with humans.”
Since the original exhibit was built in the early 1980’s by the Science Museum of Minnesota, the world has learned much more about wolves. Scientific research is evolving, the climate is changing, research is expanding and biologists now have a deeper understanding of wolves and wolf behavior than when the original display was created.
“The new exhibit will give visitors, especially families, an opportunity to experience wolves in fun, creative ways,” Schultz said. “A howling room will simulate what it’s like to hear wolves at night in the wilderness, an airplane cockpit will recreate the unique birds-eye view that just a few biologists get while tracking and observing wolves from the air, and a science lab will help children of all ages explore the biology of wolves.”
The new exhibit has been made possible through a $1 million grant from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. The International Wolf Center Board has been deeply appreciative of support for the project by Representative Rob Ecklund, Senator Tom Bakk, Ely Mayor Chuck Novak, and the Ely City Council.
Installation of the new exhibit will begin in early April, and the staff anticipate it will be open to the public by May 1, in time for the busy summer tourist season in Ely..
The Center’s winter hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.