Sierra was an Arctic wolf that arrived at Wild Spirit in March of 2007. Her exact date of birth was unknown, but what we do know is that she came from a breeder in Jacksonville, Oregon. She is the mother of Alice, Thunder, Sabine, Sugar, Storm and Powder, who were rescued a year prior.

Sierra came to us, along with her life-long companion, Yukon, and older son, Axel, when her 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 passed away approximately four months after the birth of the pups from canine dialted cardiomyopathy due to an unknown infection. Trinity passed away soon after under the same circumstances. This poor mama wolf never had the chance to see her pups grow up into remarkable individuals that stole the hearts of all.

Photos by:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kamia_the_wolf/