St. Louis wolf sanctuary's lease is up

ST. LOUIS -- A wolf sanctuary outside of St. Louis is about to lose its lease with Washington University.

The Wild Canid Center lease is up at Washington University's Tyson Research Center as of Tuesday.

In a statement, Washington University said it gave the wolf sanctuary two years' notice and needs the space for its own research.

The sanctuary has been planning to move to land it bought in 2004.

Wild Canid Center spokeswoman Kim Scott said a $20 million capital campaign is underway, but they cannot move yet.

Scott said the center hopes to break ground at the new site late this year and move the wolves by the end of next year.

In the meantime, the wolf sanctuary is canceling its annual open house next month because heavy visitor traffic has begun to interfere with Washington University research.