Sure, you love your dogs so much you take them out to eat with you, but would you share your house with an entire pack of wolves? Paul and Colette Pondella, the husband and wife conservation team behind the Shadowland Foundation, care for a pack of ten Alaskan timber wolves they’ve helped rescue—and right now, the wolves mainly live in the couple’s house in Lake Hughes. The couple don't want to live with wolves forever, though, and have ambitions to expand their wolf sanctuary, starting with a crowdfunding campaign to support the building of a more extensive animal sanctuary.
LA Weekly recently visited the Pondella's and the majestic animals who live on their ranch and reported on the couple’s plans to expand their education campus in the Los Angeles National Forest where Angelenos can come and experience wolves up close and personal.
Animal lovers curious about wolves can currently book tours to visit or even camp out on the property with the wolf pack, but only by prearranged appointment and only once a week. The naturally nocturnal wolves' eyes are very sensitive to UV light, so being out and about for visitors in the daytime can hurt them. To make it possible for the wolves to be active in the day more often, the Pondellas want to convert a 4,000 square foot barn space into a wolf-friendly habitat with special lighting.
As recently as 1974, wolves were teetering on the edge of extinction in North America, but extensive reintroduction programs have somewhat stabilized. However, wolf populations definitely aren’t bouncing back or adapting to urban environments even as well as local coyote populations seem to be. To learn more or to book a playdate with the Pondella wolves, check out the Shadowland Foundation's website.
For a glimpse at the property and an intro to the Foundation, check out the Pondella's welcome video below.
