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International Wolf Center, Ely

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Viewing area at the International Wolf Center

Visitors observing the ambassador wolf pack from the viewing area of the International Wolf Center in Ely, 2017. Photo by International Wolf Center staff.

The International Wolf Center in Ely opened in 1989 with a mission of sharing unbiased educational information about wolves, their place in the ecosystem, and their interaction with humans. The center’s staff members conduct research and promote wolf population management to ensure the species’ long-term survival.

Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1966 to protect native animal species facing possible extinction. The 1973 amendment to the act created the classifications of “endangered” and “threatened.” The US Secretary of the Interior added the eastern timber wolf, a subspecies of gray wolf, to the list of endangered species in 1967.

Minnesota’s wolf population, estimated by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to have been as high as 4,000 to 8,000 wolves before European settlement, had dwindled to just 350 to 700 individuals in 1964. By 1976, the population had grown to 1,000 to 1,200 wolves. Two years later, the US Fish and Wildlife Service reclassified Minnesota’s wolves from endangered to threatened status. That year, researchers estimated that the gray wolf’s range covered 23,398 square miles of northern Minnesota in three recognized zones. The secretary of the Department of the Interior designated these zones as critical habitat.

As the wolf population rebounded, the Science Museum of Minnesota, working with an advisory committee that included wolf researcher Dr. David L. Mech, Native Americans, and others, created Wolves and Humans. This educational exhibit toured the country for nine years before returning to Minnesota. Wolf researchers wanted a permanent home for the exhibit, and began to plan for an international wolf center with a core mission of unbiased education about wolves.

With the largest wolf population in the lower forty-eight states, Minnesota seemed the natural choice for the location of the wolf center. The selection committee named four possible cities: Ely, Duluth, Grand Rapids, and International Falls. The committee chose Ely because of its close proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and wolf habitat zones.

Plans for the new wolf center focused on Vermilion Community College, with a separate exhibit space nearby. Funding for the center came from state and private sources. The International Wolf Center, featuring the Wolves and Humans exhibit and four gray wolf pups, opened to the public in its temporary location in May 1989.

In June 1993, the wolf center moved to its permanent location in the refurbished Voyageurs Visitor Center in Ely. Nearly 60,000 people visited the center in its first year. The $3 million, 17,000-square-foot facility featured classrooms, a theatre, a library, and a museum store. In 1998, the center expanded with a 3,260-square-foot addition. It included a 120-seat wolf viewing area and additional laboratory, classroom, and storage space.

The center’s ambassador wolves, all born in captivity and raised from pups at the center, roam a 1.2-acre enclosure. Older wolves are retired from display, and blog posts keep the public updated on their status. Visitors observe the wolf pack from the viewing area and enjoy educational presentations by wildlife biologists.

Center staff and board members organize an international symposium every four years and offer webinars on wolf behavior and management. A quarterly magazine, International Wolf, features articles on wolf conservation and management from around the globe. Programs range from day trips to week-long educational experiences that include wildlife photography workshops, hiking, snowshoeing, dog sledding, and radio tracking of wolves. In 2019, the center opened the Discover Wolves! exhibit.

Many learning opportunities are available to students, including an online course curriculum and WolfLink video conferencing sessions. A free program, Wolves at Our Door, is offered in parks, nature centers, and public libraries. In 2007, wolf center staff collaborated with the Minnesota Zoo and St. Paul-based Eduweb to create WolfQuest, an award-winning, 3-D interactive video game that gives players the opportunity to "live the life of a wild wolf.”

The 2007–2008 wolf census showed a stable population of gray wolves in Minnesota of nearly 3,000 animals. In 2018, an estimated 2,655 wolves roamed the state’s northern habitat zones. The success of conservation efforts and the state DNR’s commitment to wolf management led the US Fish and Wildlife Service to propose the delisting of the gray wolf in the Great Lakes area from the ESA in 2019.

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“4 Northern Cities Picked as Finalists for Wolf Center.” Minneapolis Tribune, September 6, 1985.

Anderson, Dennis. “Wolf Tales: As Once-endangered Timber Wolves Expand Range, Ely Center Thrives.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 3, 1994.

International Wolf Center.
https://wolf.org

Mech, L. David. “Eastern Timber Wolf: A Howling Success for the Endangered Species Act.” Wolf.org. https://www.wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/180wolfrecovery.pdf

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Comments on the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Proposed Rule "Removing the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife," 84 Fed. Reg. 9648 (March 15, 2019) (to be codified at 50 CR 117). https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/wildlife/wolves/wolf_comments19.pdf

——— . Gray Wolf.
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/wolves/mgmt.html

——— . Wolf Hunting and Trapping.
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/wolf/index.html

Science Museum of Minnesota. Wolves and Humans. https://www.smm.org/exhibitservices/portfolio/wolves-and-humans

Session Laws of the State of Minnesota for 2001, Chapter 2, Section 5, Subdivision 8 (6). Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota, 2001.

US Fish and Wildlife Service. Gray Wolves—Western Great Lakes States. Wolf Numbers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan (excluding Isle Royale)—1976–2015. https://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/population/mi_wi_nos.html

——— . US Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Plan for the Eastern Timber Wolf, rev. 1992. https://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/aboutwolves/pdf/grwo_recovplan.pdf

Vandervort, Keith. “Pups a Draw at Wolf Center.” Ely Timberjay, November 18, 2016.

——— . “Wolf Pups Now Part of the Pack at Wolf Center. Ely Timberjay, August 19, 2016.

Winegar, Karin. “Center Celebrates the Lure of the Wolf.” Minneapolis Tribune, June 25, 1993.

WolfQuest.
https://www.wolfquest.org

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Viewing area at the International Wolf Center
Viewing area at the International Wolf Center
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Boltz, an ambassador wolf
Ambassador wolf pack
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Arctic wolves
Mosaic at entrance to wolf exhibit
Mosaic at entrance to wolf exhibit
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Mosaic at International Wolf Center
Exhibit at International Wolf Center
Exhibit at International Wolf Center
Exhibit at International Wolf Center
Exhibit at International Wolf Center
Exhibit at International Wolf Center
Exhibit at International Wolf Center
Dr. David L. Mech
Dr. David L. Mech
Exhibit at the International Wolf Center
Exhibit at the International Wolf Center
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Wolves in snowfall
Exhibit at the International Wolf Center
Exhibit at the International Wolf Center

Turning Point

Ely is chosen as the location for the new International Wolf Center in November 1987 due to its proximity to key wolf habitat zones.

Chronology

1965

The state of Minnesota eliminates its wolf bounty program. Wolves can still be hunted or trapped.

1966

Congress passes the Endangered Species Act to recognize native animal species threatened with extinction.

1967

The US Secretary of the Interior lists the Eastern timber wolf as endangered. This designation does not offer protection for the species.

1973

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides protection for listed species.

1983

The Science Museum of Minnesota opens its Wolves and Humans exhibit in December. The exhibit tours to eighteen cities over a nine-year period before its permanent installation at the International Wolf Center.

1987

Ely is chosen as the location for the International Wolf Center.

1989

The International Wolf Center opens to the public in its temporary home at Vermilion College on May 27. The first four ambassador wolf pups make their appearance at the center.

1993

The International Wolf Center opens its permanent location in the refurbished Voyageurs Visitor Center in Ely on June 26.

2001

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources adopts the Wolf Management Plan required by the state legislature.

2007

The International Wolf Center collaborates with the Minnesota Zoo and Eduweb to create WolfQuest, a 3D interactive video game.

2011

After two previous attempts, the gray wolf is taken off the endangered species list in the Great Lakes region for the third time.

2014

A federal court ruling bans the killing of wolves in Minnesota except in cases where human life is threatened. The ruling puts Minnesota’s wolves back on the endangered species list and places them under the protection of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

2018

The state DNR estimates that there are 465 wolf packs and a total of 2,655 wolves in Minnesota, exceeding the original recovery goal for the gray wolf in Minnesota of 1,251 to 1,400 individuals.

2019

The International Wolf Center opens its exhibit Discover Wolves!

2020

Two wolf pups arrive at the center to carry on the ambassador wolf program.