The Wild Canid Survival and Research Center, a wolf sanctuary that has pulled several species away from the brink of extinction, will be moving from its home of 37 years at Washington University’s Tyson Research Center to one of the most pristine areas of the Ozarks—provided it can acquire sufficient funding.

According to Susan Lindsey, executive director of the sanctuary, while the center has acquired land around the La Barque stream in Jefferson County, Ark. that will be more suitable for the wolves, it still lacks the necessary funding to complete the move.

The center, an internationally-renowned facility for breeding endangered wolves and foxes, is a private, non-profit conservation organization that has been leasing land since 1971 at the Tyson Research Center—a 2,000-acre field station located 20 miles from the Danforth Campus that is used for environmental research and education.

“The primary function of the Wild Canid Center is to take small populations and rear them to populations of at least 100, so reintroduction [into the wild] can begin,” Lindsey said.

The center’s lease at Tyson has expired, and Tyson has created a long-term plan that involves the construction of two new buildings for a program in biological sustainability on the land currently occupied by the center.

“The building we are working toward now will be for high school kids getting involved in environmental research and sustainability,” John Chase, director of the Tyson Research Center, said. “The long-term vision is to develop an internationally-recognized program in environmental research and sustainability. We will be developing a number of large-scale research programs in these areas and taking St. Louis [outreach] initiatives.”

But Henry Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration, stressed that the University is trying to help the center, not hurt it.

“We’re all working together for a common goal, relocating them to a location that will be better for them and [will] allow the program in biological sustainability to flourish,” he said.

According to Lindsey, they expect to raise enough money for zoning and construction from donors, as well as from sale of some of their newly bought Ozark acres to the federal government for a state park.

One species they house is the maned wolf; these wolves are actually owned by Brazil, which asked the center to carry out a breeding program for them.

Another species is the Mexican gray wolf, which was near extinction when the center received five individuals in the late 1970s. Now, there are about 200 in captivity and 100 in the wild.

“There would be no Mexican gray wolf if it weren’t for the Wild Canid Center,” Lindsey said.