Thursday, July 06, 2000
Unwanted animals get second chance at haven in Indiana
By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor
Paul Strasser grew up in Hyde Park, but his interest in things natural smacks more of Yellowstone Park.
Mr. Strasser is the owner of the Red Wolf Sanctuary and Raptor Rehabilitation Center, a 21-acre haven for should-be-wild animals born or hatched at the center or found lost, injured or abandoned.
“It never ends,” Mr. Strasser said. “I keep ending up with animals that have been abused or abandoned.”
The southeast Indiana center, on Ind. 62 between Dillsboro and Farmers Retreat, is open to the public, and Mr. Strasser is available to give educational group tours.
The sanctuary currently is home to 12 wolves, five coyotes, a “coydog” — which is part dog, part coyote — three mountain lions, three bobcats, two bears and a buffalo. There's also an assortment of birds of prey, such as eagles, hawks and owls.
That's not the menagerie Mr. Strasser had in mind when he started the center 21 years ago.
“I wanted to build an educational center to study wolves,” said Mr. Strasser, who earned a degree in fish and wildlife management from Montana State and a master's in education from the University of Cincinnati.
He worked at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden for 13 years and also was a teacher at Summit Country Day.
Mr. Strasser's primary interest was in red wolves, but after he started coming home with groundhogs and raccoons that he'd extracted from Greater Cincinnati homes, he found himself drawn in another direction.
He said he is able to heal and return to the wild many of the injured animals people bring to the sanctuary. Some people also drop off animals originally purchased as pets or for exhibition that have grown unmanageable — or have been judged to have outlived their usefulness, such as the buffalo.
Those animals can't be released, so Mr. Strasser keeps them on the property, finding the ways and means to kept them fed — usually through a diet of road kill. His responsibility grows when the residents have litters. Chippewa, a gray wolf, recently gave birth to an eight-pup litter.
The center exists on donations, time volunteered by others and road-kill deer.
“Somebody's got to do it,” Mr. Strasser said. “Actually, food isn't a problem.”
The housing and care of game animals is regulated by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Birds of prey and endangered species, like the red wolf, are monitored bythe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The center always can use more money.
“I've really been working hard trying to teach the wolf puppies how to write checks, but that's not working out too well,” Mr. Strasser said. “I could easily spend $250,000 a year. We scrunge pretty well.”
One immediate goal is to expand the housing for the two bears, who share a cage meant for one. Long-range plans include building an 8-foot fence around the entire 21 acres, which would allow several of the animals more room to roam. The area would include pits or blinds from which visitors could study the animals in more natural habitats, Mr. Strasser said.
In a way, Mr. Strasser is fulfilling his dream of building an education center. Tours are available to groups such as classes and Scout troops, and Mr. Stras ser keeps Saturdays starting at 1 p.m. open for drop-in visitors.
To arrange a group visit, or to donate money to the Red Wolf Sanctuary and Raptor Rehabilitation Center, call (812) 667-5303.
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