Billie

Guy

Like many wolves in captivity, Guy was raised by a breeder in the pet trade. Guy is a handsome cream-colored wolf with dark highlights along his back and riveting eyes. He can be quite wary. The man who bought him soon found he wasn’t able to get a pure wolf like Guy into a crate for a trip to a veterinarian. Guy and his companion Anna came to Wolf Haven in 2012. A year older, Anna seemed to play the role of big sister, and the gentle Guy often looked to her for guidance, until she passed away in 2021. Guy really likes salmon donated from Seattle’s Pike Place Market. During a recent feeding, Guy jumped up and down in excitement, then ate his salmon right away instead of waiting for staff to leave the area, as is usually his custom. Guy’s current companion is Billie. They are often seen on remote camera playing.

Layla

Layla spent her first few years on a cable line and the next 10 months at an animal shelter after she was removed from the yard of a local breeder. Wolf Haven rescued her in 2019 and her outgoing personality has since bloomed. She is very focused on her neighbors and mimics them, including what looks like synchronized vertical leaps with Luca, a white wolfdog who lives across from her. Layla is a first-generation, or F1, wolfdog. Half of her DNA comes from her mother, a pure wolf, and the other half from her father, a domestic dog (Malamute.) She recently moved into an enclosure with Tecumseh, a male wolfdog. Layla quickly anointed herself queen of their domain. “T,” as he’s known, had experience with domineering females. Although easygoing, T wouldn’t let himself be pushed around and he set boundaries Layla needed. She still likes to run the fence and posture at neighbors, but has settled in nicely with the handsome silver-gray T.

Senna

An inquisitive female wolfdog, Senna was saved by the very man tasked with killing her. Senna and her sister Willow were bought from a breeder, but their owner found the sisters inconvenient to manage, and asked her maintenance man to shoot them. He had another idea. He and his girlfriend rescued the sisters and looked for a sanctuary. Senna and Willow came to Wolf Haven in 2014, and lived with Riley, an older male who had lost his companion, and then Tecumseh, a lone male rescued from private ownership. Eventually, the sisters found it too easy to team up and chase Tecumseh away from food, so they were moved to an enclosure with neighbors on two sides. When the bold and playful Senna is done running along a shared fence-line and bluff-charging a neighbor, she likes to retire to the top of a mound, where she nibbles her cache of food and monitors her surroundings. Senna spends her days watching and communicating with other wolves in our sanctuary, before retreating to a spot under her favorite tree.

Sierra

Sierra, a female wolf, was born into the pet trade. As Sierra approached maturity at age three, her instincts drove her to find her own territory. She escaped her human home and wandered the suburban Hollywood Hills, mostly under the cover of darkness, eluding one danger after another. Coaxed with scraps of food by concerned Californians, Sierra was captured, and eventually came to Wolf Haven in 2016. She has a creamy coat flecked with darker gray and tinged with red. She was paired with the brash Lakota, who whined with excitement at first seeing her. Lakota’s confident behavior encouraged shy Sierra to relax. After seeing Lakota play in his splash tub and then step out, she got in and copied his sloshing. The next day she got her own tub to enjoy. Now, when Lakota starts to howl, Sierra gets excited and places her face right alongside his, and affectionately paws at him, or leap-frogs over him. More often quiet and calm, Sierra is content to watch her neighbors, Mexican wolves M1066 (Moss) and F1361 (Sedona), from a distance.  

Tecumseh (T)

Born into the unfortunate business known as the pet trade, Tecumseh, a male wolfdog, was sold to a Montana couple with a female wolfdog. When his good friend passed away unexpectedly, Tecumseh, or “T”, as he’s called, seemed to struggle. His owners’ living situation was in flux, so they reached out to Wolf Haven. T, with his expressive amber eyes, arrived in 2016 and first lived with wolfdog sisters, Senna and Willow. His calm, shy personality fit well with the sanctuary’s tranquility. But the sisters began teaming up to take T’s food. He moved in with Angel, a wolf who helped bring T out of his shell. Sadly, Angel passed away after a short battle with cancer (note: there is currently a different wolf named Angel living at Wolf Haven). Eventually, Layla, a rescued wolfdog, became his companion. At first, T was wary of Layla’s boisterous energy. As she followed him around, he would try to evade her. But when he realized she meant no harm, he set some boundaries, and the two hit it off. T even appeared to take cues from Layla’s confident personality.

Whitey and Lefty

Whitey and Lefty are two of the McCleery Buffalo wolves who reside in our satellite sanctuary near Bridger, MT.  While we don’t know their ages or lineages, these two males are not young. The McCleery wolves have a unique back story that began in 1921 with a doctor, Dr. E.H. McCleery, in Kane, Pennsylvania.  Find out more about these animals on Wolf Haven’s blog here

Willow

Willow and her sister Senna were purchased from a breeder in Texas. As Willow and Senna got older, their owner found them too challenging to manage. She asked her maintenance man to shoot the sisters. Fortunately, he offered to take them temporarily, and contacted the American Sanctuary Association, which then reached out to Wolf Haven. Based on photographs, we believed the sisters were not pure wolves, which DNA tests later confirmed. Breeders often misrepresent the wolf content of animals because more wolf means more money. While Wolf Haven normally rescues wolves not wolfdogs, exceptions are sometimes made, and Willow and Senna came to our sanctuary in April 2014. The curious and rambunctious sisters proved to be too assertive for Tecumseh, a shy male wolfdog that staff hoped they would “mentor.” They were moved to their own enclosure. Willow’s personality has blossomed at Wolf Haven. She is confident and gets excited when her neighbors are running near her enclosure fence. Willow pounces and runs alongside them.

Angel

Lifespan: 2007-2022

Angel is a female wolfdog who came from Utah’s Hogle Zoo. She was born at the Triple D Game Farm where she was used for photo shoots. Angel was moved to the zoo a few years ago, where she was then housed with a male companion. After the male passed away, zoo personnel elected to move her to a sanctuary and they reached out to Wolf Haven.

Angel passed away in early 2022 from a ruptured liver tumor.

Aponi

Lifespan: 2010-2021

Aponi is a female gray wolf who came to us in 2019 from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. At the zoo she lived with her sisters, but after dominance displays escalated within the group, Aponi was pulled and brought to live at Wolf Haven. She shares an enclosure in the off-public area of the sanctuary with Grayling, a male gray wolf. The two seem very bonded, and have become one of the most playful and vocal pairs.

Aponi passed away from cancer in 2021.

Doba

Lifespan: 2010-2022

Doba is a female gray wolf who came to us in 2021 from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. At the zoo she lived with her sisters (her sister Aponi came to Wolf Haven in 2019), but after dominance displays escalated within the group, Doba was pulled and brought to live at Wolf Haven. She shared an enclosure in the visit route of the sanctuary with Grayling, a male gray wolf.

Doba passed away in early 2022 from cancer of the spleen.

Ione

Lifespan: 2012-2022

Staff still see a “wildness” in some of the stealthy movements of Ione (pronounced eye-own), a female wolf with a charcoal-colored coat. Ione is the only wolf at Wolf Haven born in the wild. She probably belonged to an Eastern Washington pack that dispersed when its breeding male was killed by a vehicle. After her sister was also killed by a vehicle, Ione began hanging around a rancher’s livestock guardian dogs. She always returned from her travels to the ranch and the dogs, her substitute family. Due to the situation’s risks, state officials weighed two options: relocation, which they thought would lead to her trying to return to the ranch, or lethal removal. Wolf Haven offered a third choice: sanctuary. Ione was captured in February 2015 and has settled into life with her companion Luca. She recently showed a new boldness when she stood nearby and watched staff change the straw bedding in her enclosure shelter pen (instead of retreating some distance, as had been her custom.) Ione is only the second wild-born wolf to live at Wolf Haven. Putting a wild wolf into captivity is not an ideal situation for a wolf – and often fails. Wolf Haven does not offer this option often, or lightly.

Ione passed away in 2022 after experiencing a series of seizures.

Lakota

Lifespan: 2011-2021

One of the largest wolves at Wolf Haven, Lakota often stands atop a hill in his wooded enclosure, surveying the surrounding prairie. Lakota’s environment wasn’t always so scenic. For his first two and a half years, he was kept by a backyard breeder in a kennel with a concrete floor, plywood roof and only one unenclosed side. Big, bold, confident Lakota jumped that fenced side one day and was nearly shot by a local sheriff, before a state wildlife officer was able to intervene. After learning that Lakota’s owner planned to euthanize him, Wolf Haven’s veterinarian helped arrange a transfer in late 2013 to Wolf Haven. Shortly after Lakota met his current companion, Sierra, the two were playing tag in their enclosure. Then he showed her one of his favorite activities, pawing at the water in his splash tub. Defensive and growling when he first arrived at Wolf Haven, Lakota now seems to enjoy seeing the animal care staff. 

Lakota unexpectedly passed away from cancer in 2021.

Merlin

Lifespan: 2005-2022

Merlin, a white wolfdog, likes to nap on a hill in his enclosure, but has a different favorite place to lay in the early mornings. The home Merlin shares with his new companion Angel is one of the secluded areas in the sanctuary. It’s full of laurel bushes, small trees and one towering fir. Merlin was confiscated by the state of Illinois from an owner who, without proper permitting, wanted to kill him for his beautiful coat. Merlin’s owner intended to “pelt out” Merlin and other animals he had acquired. Merlin has been known to try and hide his face behind a tree or brush, while his body remains exposed. When he realizes he is no longer hidden, he pops up and bounces, as if he’s playing a game.

Merlin passed away in 2022 from complications of old age.

Tolo

Lifespan: 2012-2022

Tolo is a nine-year old gray wolf who was initially rescued from private ownership. After a couple years of changes, Tolo has found his forever home at Wolf Haven’s sanctuary in 2021. We are delighted to see he is settling wonderfully in his large, vegetated enclosure, with the company of female gray wolf Sierra. Although shy and wary of human presence, Sierra has warmingly received Tolo, and the two of them have been seen sharing food and splashing in their tub.

Tolo passed away in fall 2022 due to health complications and organ failure.

Ukiah

Lifespan: 2007-2021

Ukiah is a female wolf whose bulky coat is light grizzled-gray with tawny accents on her ears, saddle and flanks. The thickness of her coat frames her delicate face so that her pale eyes look hypnotic—if you’re lucky enough to catch her gaze. In 2010, Wolf Haven became home to Ukiah and her brother Yuma, whose owner had died after purchasing the siblings from a Texas breeder. Unfortunately, Yuma passed away in 2014. The next year, Ukiah was introduced to a new companion, a wolfdog named Merlin. The bold Ukiah and easygoing Merlin have become very bonded. While Ukiah’s eating habits are similar to those of many wolves, she has some distinct routines. She tends to cache, or store concealed food, more than any other Wolf Haven resident. She also almost appears to gloat when she receives deer. It’s common to see Ukiah holding a deer leg for days following a feeding. 

Ukiah passed away in 2021 after battling kidney failure.