Axel was an Arctic wolf that arrived at Wild Spirit in April of 2007. His date of birth was unknown, but what we do know is that Axel was born to captive-bred parents, Yukon and Sierra, at a breeding facility back in 2004. He is the older brother of Alice, Thunder, Sabine, Sugar, Storm and Powder, who were rescued a year prior.

Axel came to us, along with his parents, Yukon and Sierra, when his owner decided to surrender them into our care. He no longer wanted to breed Yukon and Sierra, and Axel was a pup from a former litter that he decided to keep, but no longer wished to own. Happy to give them a home, we began the process of making arrangements and set off to pick them up. Once loaded into our rescue van, all three animals were taken to the vet to be spayed and neutered, but when the vet looked at Sierra he discovered something very surprising – she was already pregnant! Although the addition of a litter of pups was not an ideal situation, staff elected to let her maintain her pregnancy.

Upon arrival at Wild Spirit, the three new rescues settled in nicely, creating their home in one of our most beautiful habitats, full of trees and rocks. Almost immediately, Sierra and Yukon prepared for their final litter by digging a den in the dirt under a large rock slab. Sierra gave birth to five puppies right on Wild Spirit property: Teton, Shasta, Flurry, Frost, and Trinity.

Sadly, Sierra and Trinity passed away due to canine dilated cardiomyopathy and an unknown infection. Flurry and Frost began showing a marked interest in people and wandering away from their mother to investigate the humans around them before excessive exposure occurred. Due to their interest and aptitude, we began to train them to work as Ambassadors, which meant spending a lot more time with people and less time in the enclosure. This left Axel and his father Yukon to take care of Teton and Shasta, until Axel eventually expressed an interest in moving in with his neighbor, Riot.