Kindergarten & 1st Grades Visit Wolf Conservation Center

The Kindergarten and First Grade students and teachers took an exciting field trip on Friday to the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York, whose Mission is "to teach people about wolves, their relationship to the environment and the human role in protecting their future". The students have been studying wolves as part of their social studies curriculum and were eager to finally observe the them up close! 

When the students first arrived, they listened carefully and could hear the wild wolves HOWL! The students were able to observe two sibling ambassador wolves. They looked white, and their names were Alawa (a female) and Nikai (a male). The guide fed them during the visit.

Here are some wolf facts and observations from the trip:

• After the wolves ate, they marked the ground where the food was with their scent (urine) to keep others away.
• Wolves have TWO coats that they grow in the winter to keep them warm.
• Wolves can jump HIGH! But because they don't have thumbs, they can't climb. Fences were bent in at the top so wolves can't jump over them. 
• No one is allowed to touch or interact with the pups as they want them to stay only with wolves and not people. The only exception is the vets who do a well-check occasionally.
• Only 50% of pups survive to 1 year old!
• Pups are fully grown adults when they are 2 years old! (The students got a kick out of this fact!)
• The Wolf Conservation Center keeps ambassador wolves (the ones we saw up close) and then also keeps wild wolves that will eventually be released into the wild. We weren't really able to see any of THOSE wolves up close as they are very afraid of people.
• Students learned a lot about the endangered status of wolves and why the center is working to protect them and help them breed to go back to the wild.

Enjoy photos from the field trip HERE.

For more information about the Wolf Conservation Center and its programs and events visit: https://nywolf.org/