Maggie and Raven

Maggie and Raven were born in April 2002.  Their father was a full gray wolf and their mother was half gray wolf and half arctic wolf.  Although the sisters are believed to be pure wolves, their ancestors were sold as 98% wolf-dog crosses.  Since the federal government does not regulate wolf-dog crosses, Maggie and Raven were transported across state lines without wildlife permits.  To the best  of our knowledge, their litter was bred specifically to be used in a new movie version of “Julia of the Wolves.”  Their two brothers are now in Utah being considered as possible filming candidates.  However, the trainer in charge of the movie refused to work with female wolves, so Maggie and Raven ended up in the care of a private person in South Carolina who owned 34 other exotic animals.

Maggie and Raven’s new owner soon realized just how difficult it is to keep wolves in captivity.  The sisters were housed in a very small pen on an open plot of land many miles from the owner’s house.  He would visit them every couple of days to feed them, but quickly recognized that he could not handle the task of caring for two wolf pups as they matured.  He called Mission: Wolf to ask if they could care for them.  After much consideration, they agreed to take in the two sisters.

Everyone fell in love with Raven and Maggie as soon as they arrived at the refuge.  They were adopted and raised by Ambassador Wolf Rami, along with a wolf-dog puppy named Luna.  Maggie and Raven traveled with the Ambassador Program for four years, meeting thousands of people – teaching them that wolves are not scary, but also don’t belong in your back yard.

It quickly became apparent that the two sisters had very different personalities and very different reactions to big crowds of people.  Raven was the confident clown who loved being the center of attention.  Maggie acted more like a typical wolf - she was scared of stairways, loud noises, shadows and just about anything else that came her way.  Yet once she got in front of an audience, Maggie soaked up the attention and happily greeted everyone. 

As Maggie and Raven matured, they began to bicker with each other.  As happens with sisters of any species, Raven and Maggie got into a huge argument about who was in charge.  The staff wanted both Maggie and Raven to be happy, so they were separated.

Raven retired to a quiet life at the refuge.  Without the comfort of her sister’s presence, Raven retreated from human contact a bit until she met Sabretooth, an older wolf who loved attention.  After Sabretooth passed away in 2007, the staff introduced Raven to a very shy wolf-dog puppy named Fenris.  She now spends her days trying to convince Fenris that people aren’t too scary.

Without having to compete with her sister for attention, Maggie came into her own as an Ambassador.  She slowly gained confidence in herself and in her human pack-mates.  Now silver with age, Maggie can walk proudly through busy city streets without flinching.  She has already met over 100,000 people and has traveled from Maine to Florida to Oregon.  She’s swum in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, looked over the edge of the Grand Canyon, and howled with wild wolves in Yellowstone.