McCleery Ranch

Wolf Haven manages a satellite wolf sanctuary in Bridger, Montana called McCleery Ranch (closed to the public). Twenty captive-born wolves currently live at the sanctuary and their care is overseen by Wolf Haven’s Director of Operations.

Background

In 1920s America, there was a bounty on wolves. E. H. McCleery, a small-town Pennsylvania doctor with a love of wildlife and a fascination with wolves, was distressed at the wholesale effort to eradicate them. He wrote to the government, offering to pay for wolf pups to be shipped to him rather than be killed. Over the next decade, he purchased more than 20 wild wolves from the government, zoos, and trappers. Dr. McCleery’s intent was to save the remaining buffalo wolves (Canis lupus nubilus) from extinction in the United States.

For many years, Dr. McCleery’s wolves lived and bred in captivity in Kane, Pennsylvania. His captive wolf population numbered nearly 100 individuals at its zenith.

Following his death, Dr. McCleery’s assistant, Jack Lynch, took over the operation. He relocated the wolves from Pennsylvania to Washington, and later to Montana. Following Jack’s death in 2006, his wife Mary cared for the wolves until her passing in 2016.  Mary’s son, Ed Wheeler, and his wife, Terry, provided care for the remaining wolves for the next two years.

Wolf Haven’s Role

In 2018, Wolf Haven assumed responsibility of McCleery Ranch. The transfer of ownership included (at the time) 33 captive wolves, the property home, and various outbuildings. Wolf Haven manages McCleery Ranch as a satellite sanctuary, allowing the wolves to continue receiving the best possible care without displacing them from their current home. Cryopreservation has also been arranged to fulfill the McCleery Buffalo Wolf Foundation’s mission of preserving 1920s buffalo wolf lineage DNA. Wolf Haven is honored to provide the McCleery wolves with compassionate care and comfort in their remaining years in the only home they have ever known.