WOLVES: The legacy of former Kane resident Dr. E. H. McCleery is under new ownership.

The McCleery Buffalo Wolf Foundation was recently acquired by Wolf Haven International.

“The transfer of ownership includes 33 captive wolves, property home and outbuildings,” Wolf Haven International announced. “Wolf Haven will manage the McCleery facility as a satellite sanctuary, allowing the wolves to continue receiving the best care while living out their lives in their current homes.”

Dr. McCleery saved the lobo wolf from extinction.

He began acquiring lobo wolves in 1921 to protect them, and he kept his wolves on his property in Kane. The U.S. government had hired people to eliminate the wolves.

Soon, Dr. McCleery’s lobo wolves were the only ones left.

His wolves were eventually relocated to Montana, where they are now.

“Assuming responsibility for the McCleery wolves provides Wolf Haven an opportunity to allow these non-socialized wolves to spend their remaining years in their current location,” the organization stated.

While 33 of the lobo wolves remain, most people will never have a chance to see the creatures alive.

According to Wolf Haven, the Montana facility is closed to the public, and the wolves will not be allowed to breed. But they won’t exactly be gone forever.

“Wolf Haven will arrange for cryopreservation to fulfill the Foundation’s mission of preserving the DNA of the buffalo wolf lineage from 1920,” Wolf Haven stated.

People can, however, still see what the wolves looked like by visiting the McCleery Discovery Center in Kane. Among the center’s displays is a new lobo wolf taxidermy mount, made with a pelt from one of the doctor’s wolves.

In March, the center announced that it would be officially unveiling the mount — named “Tanya” — during Kane’s Alumni Weekend. That’s coming up this weekend, in fact.