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Animal sanctuary opens new habitat
By Ashley Luthern
aluthern@vindy.com
BERLIN CENTER
Photo
Wolf habitat at Noah's Lost Ark in Berlin Center.
Wolf Habitat
Video
Noah's Lost Art Exotic Animal Rescue Faclity in Berlin Center, Oh. has opened a wolf habitat.
A wolf pack previously unseen by the public is now in full view.
Noah’s Lost Ark Exotic Animal Sanctuary opened a new 2-acre habitat Saturday for its six wolves.
“They’ve never been on the tour, so the public has never seen them,” said Amy Sumeriz, assistant to the sanctuary’s director.
Sumeriz added that the wolves had previously been kept in individual enclosures, but will now live in a pack — which experts say can be beneficial.
“Certainly wolves are social animals,” said Daniel Stahler, project biologist for the Yellowstone Wolf Project in Yellowstone National Park.
“They’ve evolved to live in kin-structured family groups we call packs. They thrive and depend on social interaction.”
Stahler said a typical wolf pack can be thought of as a family, though he added in the wild, offspring usually make the decision to leave the pack and prevent breeding with close relatives.
Wolves are no longer found in the wild in Ohio, but were present centuries ago in Ohio’s history, said Laurie Graber, wildlife research technician with the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
“They were killed and extinct from Ohio mostly because of the European settlers,” Graber said, adding that settlers also forced many wolves west.
The wolves, like all of the animals at Noah’s Lost Ark, are former pets.
“We save abused and neglected exotic animals,” Sumeriz said. “We don’t breed and we don’t buy.”
Noah’s Lost Ark is a non-profit organization licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. It houses more than 80 big cats, wolves, bears, primates and 125 other exotic animals.
The sanctuary is funded entirely by donations. The new habitat took about two years to build and longer than that to raise the money. The public can watch the wolves in the wooded habitat complete with dens.
“In terms of human interaction, if they’re well-socialized, the wolves will do what they do,” Stahler said. “In the wild, we don’t find them approaching people. Most wolves try to minimize direct contact.”
Noah’s Lost Ark is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The sanctuary is closed Mondays. Adult tickets are $6.50, and tickets for children, ages 2 to 17, cost $5.