Wolf sanctuary plans move to larger location

EUREKA, Mo. (AP) -- A St. Louis-area wolf sanctuary known for its breeding of endangered species may be getting a much bigger home.

The Wild Canid Survival and Research Center, now situated on 65 acres of Washington University's Tyson Research Center, is awaiting approval for a planned move to a 610-acre site just south of Eureka in northwest Jefferson County.

The Jefferson County Commission is expected to vote Dec. 3 on a zoning change needed to allow the move to the G.A. Buder III property off Highway FF. The change has been recommended for approval by the county's planning and zoning commission.

The center, known simply as the Wolf Sanctuary, has remained at the same spot since it was opened in 1971 by Marlin Perkins and his wife, Carol. It is the only wolf facility in the world accredited by The American Zoo and Aquarium Association.

Last year, the center had three of the four Mexican gray wolf pup litters born in the United States. It has more Mexican gray wolves than any other program.

It also works with the endangered red wolf, the maned wolf from South America and the Swift fox.

The sanctuary has been leasing land from Tyson Research Center, but would own the new location.

The new site will allow the center to stay open to the public year-round instead of closing from mid-April until late May while female wolves give birth, said director Susan Lindsey.

It will also let the center separate its educational exhibits from its breeding programs and triple its holding capacity for wolves, wild dogs and foxes, Lindsey said. The sanctuary currently can hold 42 of the animals.

The heavily wooded area also has three lakes and a 7,000-square-foot house the sanctuary plans to use for a visitors' center and offices.

Lindsey said the center probably will use about 400 of the 610 acres, with the remainder serving as a buffer. The entire area will be encircled by 12 miles of fencing. The site will have pockets of animal enclosures, each with a 15-foot fence.

Lindsey said it would probably be about two years before the center moves.

Washington University, which had offered to relocate the sanctuary elsewhere in its 2,000-acre Tyson Research Center, will use the space for biology and ecology programs.