Wolves May Go Up For Adoption Call Of The Wild Foundation Wants To Offer Sponsor Kits

A Colorado organization hopes to set up a program that would allow people to sponsor wolf packs in Yellowstone National Park as a way of raising money for wolf recovery work.

The Call of the Wild Foundation wants to offer $20 to $25 “Adopt a Wolf” kits by June 1, said Terri O’Neill, a director of the organization based in Golden, Colo.

Buyers would be coupled with Yellowstone packs and would receive Internet updates on the activities and locations of the radio-collared wolves. A wolf newsletter also is planned.

Mike Phillips, leader of the Yellowstone wolf recovery project, said Tuesday that the wolf sponsorship program is simply an idea at this time.

“I don’t consider it to be a done deal by any means,” Phillips said.

Three wolf packs were released in Yellowstone last winter, and plans call for the release of another three packs this year. Each adopted pack probably would have multiple “parents.”

Federal money for the wolf restoration project has been reduced by one-third. O’Neill wants the Call of the Wild Foundation to offset some of the cut.

The foundation, formed for wolf support, last month held a two-day Denver event to raise money and drew 1,000 people. They heard Yellowstone biologists talk about wolves and watched films of the animals. The event grossed $12,000 from admission fees and sales of wolf products, plus $2,000 in direct donations, O’Neill said.

An agreement with the Park Service requires that 70 percent of all money remaining after expenses go directly to wolf restoration and research.

The foundation sells posters, note cards, sweatshirts and T-shirts bearing Yellowstone wolf photographs by Barry O’Neill, Terri’s husband.

Terri O’Neill said neither she nor her husband draws a salary from the foundation. She also said they spent $30,000 to $40,000 of their own money to get the foundation started.

“The 30 percent split we’re getting is barely covering our long-distance phone calls,” O’Neill said.