OUR AMBASSADORS
Born April 8, 2017
Máni was born in 2017 to Timber and Wotan. He was named after the Germanic moon god, which connected him with his father, who was also named after a Germanic deity.
Máni grew to be the tallest pup in the pack living up to his name. He excels in training games and puzzles. He is highly intelligent and quickly to picks up new things. He’s frequently the wolf standing by the fence checking out new people and often escorts tours around the enclosure edge.
Born April 8, 2017
Aspen was born to Timber and Wotan in 2017. There were five puppies raised at Wolf Park that year. Instead of joining an existing pack, Aspen, Máni, Niko, Sparrow and Khewa were raised together as a ‘puppy pack’ until 2019 when they reached social maturity and Sparrow was moved to solo housing due to rising social tensions. Aspen and Niko still frequently enjoy ‘play dates’ with Sparrow for most of the year.
Aspen is a large and laid-back wolf, though he often likes to start games of ‘keep-away’. The park has a rowboat which photographers like to use to photograph the wolves standing on the shore of the lake. Aspen was the first puppy to ride in the boat – he loved it and still does.
Born April 22, 2017
Khewa and her brother, Niko, came to Wolf Park in 2017 from Wolf Mountain to be raised alongside the pups born at Wolf Park that year.
Khewa is easily distinguished from the other wolves in the main pack by her light grey fur, short tail and short muzzle. She darkened and grew into her features as she matured, although she still has the shortest tail and a slight dip to her muzzle.
Khewa quickly became known as the ‘mud puppy’. She loves water, mud, muck and mire. If there was something stinky which could be rolled up, she was sure to find it. She loves to enthusiastically face greet (kiss) her keepers, usually leaving a trail of muddy paw prints wherever she’s been.
Born April 22, 2017
Niko came to Wolf Park in 2017 from Wolf Mountain along with his sister, Khewa. They joined the pups born at Wolf Park that year to form a puppy pack of five. Niko is the only black phase pup in the group and easy for visitors to identify.
His favorite toy in the puppy nursery was a stuffed duck, earning him the nickname, ‘Niko-Beako’. Now that he’s older, he still likes finding sticks, bones, boxes and other things to carry around or shred. Niko enjoys training, social time with his keepers, and playing with his sister and ‘play dates’ with Sparrow.
Born April 8, 2017
Sparrow was the smallest of the pups born in 2017 to Wotan and Timber. She remains on the slender side, but did grow taller than her mother.
Sparrow, Máni, Niko, Aspen, and Khewa were raised together as a ‘puppy-pack’ until 2019 when they reached social maturity. Due to rising social tensions she was moved into solo housing. Sparrow still enjoys social visits with both Niko and Aspen frequently for most of the year.
Sparrow is known for her high intelligence and tractability among the staff. She loves to train and she’s exceptional at learning new skills. The staff nicknamed her ‘Hermione’, because she used to push other pups out of the way if she knew the answer to a training game. She’s also an explorer with little fear of new places.
Born April 10, 2014
Timber is a petite wolf who was born at Safari North Zoo, in Brainerd, Minnesota, in the spring of 2014. She grew up at Wildlife Encounters, an education/rescue facility in Omaha, Nebraska. They agreed to raise her, socialize her, and help find her a home as they were not equipped to look after a wolf for their whole life. They reached out to Wolf Park to ask if we might provide her with a permanent home and we said yes.
In 2017, she and Wotan became the parents of five pups, three of which remained at Wolf Park. She enjoys visits with the male wolves, but they can’t always handle her level of energy and excitement for extended periods of time. Interns have made her a variety of toys to keep her occupied. One of her favorites was a cow-hide ball, which she tossed around happily. She also loves interesting scents and anything she can tear apart.
Born May 12, 2014
Scarlette was brought to Wolf Park in December of 2014 from the Lakeside Nature Center in Missouri. She was a rescue from a private owner, and wasn’t a candidate for release. However, she is a phenomenal animal ambassador to humans on behalf of her wild cousins.
In the spring of 2015, Wolf Park located a tod (male fox) as a companion, and they spend most of their time together. Overall Scarlette is a very vocal vixen (female fox) who enjoys exploring her enclosure and watching the world around her. Wolf Park encourages our animals to exhibit natural behaviors. Scarlette’s favorite has to be “mouse pouncing”, which is a hunting behavior, which she shows off on a small trampoline during some of our programs.
Born March 25, 2022
Mulder comes to us from a wildlife rehabilitator in Leesburg, Indiana. Both of Mulder’s parents were sold as pets by breeders. The owners relinquished them to the rehabilitator upon realizing they were not meant to be pets. Mulder’s litter was born soon after.
He resides in the kennels of the Allison Franklin Animal Care Center until he gets a bit bigger. He will gradually be introduced to Scarlette over several weeks once his mandatory quarantine period ends. We believe that they will make a great pair!
In the short time he has been at Wolf Park, Mulder has been brave and adventurous. He doesn’t seem to worry too much about new or novel noises or people so far, instead of barging ahead to see what is happening.
As he grows, we are excited to see how his coloration develops. He will either be a silver-phase or cross-phase. Cross-phases, like silver-phase red foxes, can also be found in the wild, but it is relatively uncommon.
Born April 25th, 2019
Kestrel is one of two gray fox kits that arrived at Wolf Park in May 2019. Our search and the subsequent summer of socializing these two was well worth the effort. Kestrel has proven to be wildly entertaining. He was the first of the two kits to climb. And ever since, he has climbed everything he can find – whether it was a wall in his nursery, a cat tree, or a real tree. We will often hide food or treats up high for Kestrel to find, but the real challenge isn’t retrieving the food, but keeping it a secret from his brother!
Kestrel loves to show off his agility at a Wolf Park specialty tour by climbing some of the trees and logs in the enclosures as he forages for the food that the handlers have hidden. Sometimes, he is so excited about the chance at climbing that he will take the food down, leave it on the ground, and climb another tree to look for another goodie. These types of behaviors are healthy for gray foxes in human care because it allows the animals to exhibit natural behaviors. Gray foxes love to climb, so we provide ample opportunities for Kestrel to do so at Wolf Park.
Born February 20, 2019
As a kit, Marshall was rescued with his siblings from a construction site in Texas. His siblings were rehabilitated and successfully released back into the wild. However, rehabilitators working with Marshall thought at the time that he was blind and not a good candidate for release. Since he spent so much time in human care, they decided he couldn’t be released. Fort Worth Zoo gave him a home as an outreach ambassador animal in their education department. Due to a recent change in Texas laws, the zoo had to suspend the program.
We were delighted to welcome Marshall to Wolf Park in April, 2022.Since he is almost the same age and size as Kestrel, we decided that Marshall and Kestrel are highly likely to make great companions.
Marshall is still settling in here at Wolf Park and getting to know his new keepers. So far, his favorite food has been carrots and his favorite activities have been training and exploring his new home.
Wolf park has been home to a small herd of bison since 1982. Our original bison came to us from the Columbia Park Zoo and we’ve continued to grow the herd since then.
Currently Wolf Park is home to 11 bison who give visitors a chance to see the national mammal of the United States and a historic Indiana species. The bison also give our behavior and training seminars a unique species to observe and sometimes train. They are often a favorite among our summer camps and youth programs.
In the summer of 2022, we learned that a wildlife rehabber in Northern Indiana had a box turtle that was unfortunately non-releasable due to having spent 10+ years as a pet. This made her an excellent applicant for our ambassador animal crew!
Our new female box turtle arrived at the park just in time for our 2022 Picnic with the Pack celebration. Since she didn’t have a name yet, we had a naming contest with our guests, and Clementine was the winner.
Clementine has been a wonderful addition to the park. She loves swimming, exploring her live vegetation, digging, and is a voracious eater. She seems to love her exterior habitat, Turtle Garden, as well as her interior habitat on our Observation deck!