If you want to hear the howling of wolves in NJ, you can head to the mountains of the Delaware Water Gap in Warren County, NJ. At the Lakota Wolf Preserve, there are great photo opportunities with packs of Tundra, Timber, and Arctic wolves in a natural surrounding. There are also bobcats and foxes at the reserve. The preserve is at at 89 Mt. Pleasant Road, Columbia, NJ.
In the urban wilderness of Essex County, you can visit wolves at the Turtleback Zoo which has a Wolf Woods habitat. You can see timber wolves closeup but safely through glass panels that let you feel like a member of the pack. Several viewing stations let you see the wolves from different angles. You will wolves see crossing a stream, lying on logs and rocky outcroppings and right at the window. The Zoo is located at 560 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, New Jersey.
Conservation education is now changing the perception of the wolf. Reintroduction programs are being implemented and captive wolves in zoos, and wolf research centers are being maintained to insure that the genetic purity of wolf species is preserved. Turtle Back Zoo’s wolves come from Wolf Park Research Center in Battle Ground, Indiana.
Wolves can be found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Expanding development, farming, and ranching activity has drastically reduced the wolf’s range and population. Suitable habitat now restricts wolves to remote areas of their traditional range. Conservation Education efforts will hopefully protect and preserve wolves throughout the world.
