Neytra Gnanakaran, 5, of Santa Fe looks at
Stormy on Friday at a talk at the La Farge Branch Library. The Wild
Spirit Wolf Sanctuary will hold another talk at the Southside Branch
Library at 11 a.m. and at 2 p.m. Luis Sánchez Saturno/The New Mexican
Posted: Friday, January 15, 2016
Wolves are usually most comfortable in the wild, but an Arctic wolf visiting a Santa Fe public library Friday was on its best behavior as dozens of children and their parents gazed at the creature in awe. As Leyton Cougar, the director of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, told stories about his two decades of rescuing wolves, Stormy took a nap inside a conference-style room at the La Farge Branch Library on Llano Street.
Cougar described Stormy as one of the most human-friendly wolves he has rescued.
During the event, sponsored by
the Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library, Cougar addressed diet,
hunting strategies, family life, physical adaptations and pack structure
of wolves, as well as the differences between wolves, wolf-dogs and
regular canines.
This is the third year the
library group has hosted Cougar and one of the rescued wolves from the
sanctuary, located on 90 acres about 20 miles south of Ramah in Western
New Mexico. Cougar will introduce Flurry, another Arctic wolf, during
two additional presentations Saturday at the city’s Southside Branch
Library.
Shabd Prem Stuelpnagel, 6, of Santa Fe pets Stormy, a 9-year-old Arctic wolf from the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in Ramah, N.M., on Friday at the La Farge Branch Library. The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary will hold another talk at the Southside Branch Library at 11 a.m. and at 2 p.m. Luis Sánchez Saturno/The New Mexican
Shabd Prem Stuelpnagel, 6, of Santa Fe pets Stormy, a 9-year-old Arctic wolf from the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in Ramah, N.M., on Friday at the La Farge Branch Library. The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary will hold another talk at the Southside Branch Library at 11 a.m. and at 2 p.m. Luis Sánchez Saturno/The New Mexican
Pat Hodapp, director of the Santa
Fe Public Library system, said librarians are always looking for events
that will attract children. In this case, she said, Cougar and the
wolves have drawn hundreds of children to city libraries in the past
three years. “When we bring them in, you’re
not going to find books on wolves on the shelves for awhile because all
the children check them out,” she said.
The goal of the Wild Spirit Wolf
Sanctuary is to rescue displaced, unwanted and unreleasable captive-bred
wolves and wolf-dogs and provide them with lifelong care. The sanctuary
also makes efforts to educate people about the dangers of trying keep
wolves as pets and of breeding them with dogs — creating what the
sanctuary’s website calls “misfit canines.”
The website says wolves are some
of the most misunderstood animals, describing them as “gentle, shy,
intelligent and sentient animals.” “Unfortunately,” the website
says, “the other misconception people often hold about Wolves is that
they are not much different than domestic dogs. … Too many people learn
the truth the hard way and, now bred and born into a life in private
captivity, it will be the animals that pay the price for this exotic pet
trade.”
Stormy, also known as Storm, has lived at the sanctuary since 2006, while he was still a pup.
Cougar took him in — along with
Stormy’s family, from a breeder in Oregon, according to the wolf’s bio
on the organization’s website. “He was the most gregarious and
social out of the pups, and every now and then, he will go out in the
public as an ambassador,” Stormy’s biography says.
Cougar, is nicknamed “Wolf Daddy,” has rescued nearly 400 wolves over the past 20 years, according to his personal website. “My passion and my desire is to educate the world that we must leave the wild, wild,” his biography says.
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