Shila the Gray Wolf (2010-2024)
Obituary
Shila passed away following several months of cardiac issues after spending a life in captivity.
Shila, a gray wolf, died at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo in October 2024. She was fourteen years old. Shila suffered from cardiac problems and was given a pacemaker over the summer—likely the first wolf to undergo the procedure. At five months old, she was transferred from the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park to the Woodland Park Zoo with her three sisters. After her sisters died, she was the sole gray wolf at the zoo.
Gray wolves are among the most embattled animals in the US. Hunted nearly to extinction by the federal government in the first half of the 20th century, gray wolf populations rebounded under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Unfortunately, in the early 2000s, hunters and farmers successfully lobbied to remove many of the laws safeguarding wolves. Advocacy groups have been fighting in court and legislatures ever since to regain federal protections for this fragile species. As many as two million wolves once lived in North America, today only 6,000 wolves live in less than 10% of their natural range in the lower 48 states.
Animosity toward wolves in the US is strong. In 2024, a man hit a wolf with his snowmobile, taped the wolf’s mouth shut, and paraded them inside a bar before killing them. He received a $250 fine. In Wyoming, where wolves are not protected by the ESA, wolves may be killed year-round across much of the state. Wolves in Wyoming may be run over with snowmobiles and nursing mothers and pups may be burned alive in their dens.
But exhibiting wolves, who travel long distances in the wild and live in complex social groups that cannot be replicated in zoos, will not stop their extinction. Preventing wolves’ extinction means fully protecting them under the Endangered Species Act. State fish and game departments controlled by hunting interests and legislators that are beholden to ranchers continue to push bad science to pass cruel laws and regulations that hurt wolves. Wolves need strong legal advocates to defend them.
World Animal Protection urges everyone who loves wolves to avoid zoos and enjoy them in the wild or at accredited sanctuaries. Additionally, you can tell your federal legislators that wolves should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
