By VALERIE GARMAN | The News Herald
CHIPLEY — The 15-acres of enclosures at the Seacrest Wolf Preserve in Washington County were washed away last week after a dam at the north end of the property gave out after a period of heavy rain.
Preserve owner Cynthia Watkins said the disaster left the preserve’s 32 wolves traumatized, and also led to the death of a rare British Columbian Wolf that escaped following the flood.
“It had an accumulative effect as it swept through each enclosure,” Watkins said. “When it reached the back end of the habitat area, it took the whole entire back fence down. We had a very rare specimin in there, Chaco, and he escaped out the back of the enclosure area.”
Chaco was killed by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officer Monday night after he was found on Brickyard Road in Chipley.
“We’re heartbroken. We’re devastated,” Watkins said. “Our goal is now to get (the wolves’) habitat restored so that they can be safely contained and not be further traumatized.”
While the outside enclosure for the preserve was stabilized following the storm, volunteers are still working to restore the fences for the six closures within the preserve, and more help is needed.
“It’s going to take $75,000 to $100,000 to put this place back together again,” said Watkins, noting the nonprofit preserve will need heavy-duty equipment, volunteer laborers and donations to get the job done.
The preserve, located southwest of Wausau, is home to eight packs of wolves, many of which must be separated to prevent fighting between the alpha wolves that lead each pack.
“They’re very territorial and they live in bonded, separate families like humans do,” Watkins said.
Because they are so territorial, many of the wolves have been temporarily placed in smaller cages until the fence repairs are complete.
The volunteer-run facility is the largest wolf preserve in the Southeastern U.S. and draws visitors from all over the world, Watkins said.
“We’re an educational facility that offers the rarest opportunity in the world for humans to see and learn about wolves and the natural world,” she said. “Seacrest Wolf Preserve is a place where wolves and humans connect in nature for educational purposes.”
Despite the flooding, the preserve will be open to the public for tours as usual each Saturday.
“We do want the public to know that we are open in spite of the tragedy,” Watkins said. “This is one of the main ways that we can continue to have funding to come in to feed the wolves and meet the immediate expenditures for their general welfare.”