The International Wolf Center in Ely opened in 1989 with a mission of sharing unbiased educational information about wolves, their place in the ecosystem, and their interaction with humans. The center’s staff members conduct research and promote wolf population management to ensure the species’ long-term survival.
Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1966 to protect native animal species facing possible extinction. The 1973 amendment to the act created the classifications of “endangered” and “threatened.” The US Secretary of the Interior added the eastern timber wolf, a subspecies of gray wolf, to the list of endangered species in 1967.
Minnesota’s wolf population, estimated by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to have been as high as 4,000 to 8,000 wolves before European settlement, had dwindled to just 350 to 700 individuals in 1964. By 1976, the population had grown to 1,000 to 1,200 wolves. Two years later, the US Fish and Wildlife Service reclassified Minnesota’s wolves from endangered to threatened status. That year, researchers estimated that the gray wolf’s range covered 23,398 square miles of northern Minnesota in three recognized zones. The secretary of the Department of the Interior designated these zones as critical habitat.
As the wolf population rebounded, the Science Museum of Minnesota, working with an advisory committee that included wolf researcher Dr. David L. Mech, Native Americans, and others, created Wolves and Humans. This educational exhibit toured the country for nine years before returning to Minnesota. Wolf researchers wanted a permanent home for the exhibit, and began to plan for an international wolf center with a core mission of unbiased education about wolves.
With the largest wolf population in the lower forty-eight states, Minnesota seemed the natural choice for the location of the wolf center. The selection committee named four possible cities: Ely, Duluth, Grand Rapids, and International Falls. The committee chose Ely because of its close proximity to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and wolf habitat zones.
Plans for the new wolf center focused on Vermilion Community College, with a separate exhibit space nearby. Funding for the center came from state and private sources. The International Wolf Center, featuring the Wolves and Humans exhibit and four gray wolf pups, opened to the public in its temporary location in May 1989.
In June 1993, the wolf center moved to its permanent location in the refurbished Voyageurs Visitor Center in Ely. Nearly 60,000 people visited the center in its first year. The $3 million, 17,000-square-foot facility featured classrooms, a theatre, a library, and a museum store. In 1998, the center expanded with a 3,260-square-foot addition. It included a 120-seat wolf viewing area and additional laboratory, classroom, and storage space.
The center’s ambassador wolves, all born in captivity and raised from pups at the center, roam a 1.2-acre enclosure. Older wolves are retired from display, and blog posts keep the public updated on their status. Visitors observe the wolf pack from the viewing area and enjoy educational presentations by wildlife biologists.
Center staff and board members organize an international symposium every four years and offer webinars on wolf behavior and management. A quarterly magazine, International Wolf, features articles on wolf conservation and management from around the globe. Programs range from day trips to week-long educational experiences that include wildlife photography workshops, hiking, snowshoeing, dog sledding, and radio tracking of wolves. In 2019, the center opened the Discover Wolves! exhibit.
Many learning opportunities are available to students, including an online course curriculum and WolfLink video conferencing sessions. A free program, Wolves at Our Door, is offered in parks, nature centers, and public libraries. In 2007, wolf center staff collaborated with the Minnesota Zoo and St. Paul-based Eduweb to create WolfQuest, an award-winning, 3-D interactive video game that gives players the opportunity to "live the life of a wild wolf.”
The 2007–2008 wolf census showed a stable population of gray wolves in Minnesota of nearly 3,000 animals. In 2018, an estimated 2,655 wolves roamed the state’s northern habitat zones. The success of conservation efforts and the state DNR’s commitment to wolf management led the US Fish and Wildlife Service to propose the delisting of the gray wolf in the Great Lakes area from the ESA in 2019.