A Journey into the Wild: Experiencing Majestic Wolves at International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota

Britta, Midwest NoBounds LLC
14 minutes ago
4 min read

A look into the facility that provides educational activities for kids and adults, programs, and shopping that help support care and research for the wolves that live there.

Run with the pack at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota! This is a place where you not only get close encounter viewing of wolves but also explore educational activities that are enjoyable for kids and adults. The International Wolf Center is a facility that cares for the lives of wolves as equal as educating the public for both humans and wolves to coexist.

The International Wolf Center provides 1.25-acres of forested land habitat for their wolves to roam freely within the enclosure. It includes two dens and a filtered pond. The viewing area for people to catch a glimpse of these majestic animals is long and spacious to prevent any crowding. Included is a large second viewing room with auditorium like seating where presentations and education tours are held. You also have the option to take a seat, relax and watch the wolves roam around their land. If the wolves are sleeping in their dens, you can explore the facility to see what else the International Wolf Center has to offer.

On June 28, 2019 the "Discover Wolves" exhibit had officially opened. This exhibit you will not only read and learn different facts about wolves but you will also get a chance to have a more immersive experience. You can listen to different sounds of a wolf howl and learn what they mean. You can fly a plane simulator with research scientists. Step into a room of bliss and gaze into the interchanging colors of northern lights. The International Wolf Center also provides a theater where you can watch an educational film. You can also play an interactive game where you are the wolf that goes on adventures of survival. Near the viewing area is the "Little Wolf" exhibit for kids to have fun and play games that are wolf inspired.

The long journey of the development of the International Wolf Center began in 1958 with Dr. L. David Mech, a biologist in the study of wolves, and his continued research when traveled to Ellesmere Island. There he was able to observe a pack of wolves in a more unique habitat to allow him to field research in a way that has never been done before. Through his research and better understanding he was able to travel to other locations and compare other wolf pack interactions and ways of survival. In 1985 Dr. L. David Mech created the award winning display "Wolves and Humans" exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota. While the display was on a journey to different locations on its own, a temporary facility in Ely was placed in 1989. After traveling the display to 19 cities across the United States and Canada, it made it's permanent home in June 1993 establishing the International Wolf Center. The International Wolf Center has gone through two expansions that were in 1998 and in 2019. These expansions created a more state of the art and immersive experience for people to learn, observe, and enjoy. In these processes of expansion, you can still see Dr. L. David Mech "Wolves and Humans" exhibit display. However, it has been changed and updated to "Discover Wolves" exhibit. From his continued research and passion Dr. L. David Mech now holds his professional background as Senior Research Scientist with the Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota and holds advisor position to International Wolf Center today.

My Experience

If you are wanting to make the most out of your experience, I have two big helpful tips for you! When I arrived I made the discovery that wolves like to sleep a lot and, often times, like to sleep in their dens.

~My first tip, arrive more in the morning hours. The wolves will more likely be up and roaming around ready for their morning meal.

~My second tip, go to the International Wolf Center's website and check the live streaming wolf cams. By doing this, you will be able to check to see if the wolves are roaming around, laying out for a nap, or out of sight in their dens resting.

If you arrive and by chance the wolves are napping out of view, the International Wolf Center does their best for you to get an opportunity to see a live wolf. At the time of our visit they had two wolf pups that were separated in another enclosure from the pack. Since all the wolves were resting out of sight, the staff/caregivers setup up tours for people to get a close up view of the wolf pups. After our visit, the wolf pups have been introduced to the current pack. With me being a hobbyist photographer, I was a little disappointed to not be able to capture the characteristics of the wolves because they were all taking their daily naps. I put my focus on exploring the facility. It was spacious and fun exploring all the different activities. It was fun for the kids too! We ended up staying longer than expected because we were enjoying the games and learning about the importance of wolves in the ecosystem. If you are in the town of Ely, Minnesota be sure to put the International Wolf Center on your list for places to visit.

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Location

1396 MN-169

Ely, MN. 55731