JOSIE LUCERO

         As the sun moves behind a clump of wispy, pale clouds, a grey winter’s light settles over Wolves Offered Life and Friendship (W.O.L.F) Sanctuary, a non-profit organization, in Rist Canyon, located west of Bellvue, Colorado. As the air begins to chill, a single moaning howl break the near silence of the valley. Within seconds, the single howl is joined by a chorus of distinct wolf voices that echo throughout the entire valley.

     

“Isn’t it just the most surreally beautiful sound?” asked Abby Matzke, a senior Park and Protected Area Management major at Colorado State University. “The only time I don’t like to hear it is at 2 a.m., when I’m here alone. It’s a lot creepier sounding then.”

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As the newest and youngest staff member of W.O.L.F Sanctuary's small five-member staff, the breathtaking call has become a normal, but unexpected, part of the 21-year-old’s life.

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        After growing up on the outskirts the nation’s capital, in the well-to-do town of Great Falls, Virginia, no one expected her, a petite beach-blonde to become the next Jane Goodall of the wolves.

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Pictured: Sasha, a wolf-dog, eagerly gives Matzke kisses in hopes for a treat at W.O.L.F. Sanctuary in Bellvue, CO. Photo taken by Josie Lucero.

 

    “My life use to be so different,” said Matzke. “Kids in my high school were crazy rich and politicians’ kids, so my life was more glamorous in way. I care a lot about what people thought of me so I always looked nice and put together. This would never of happened.”

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       She motions to her outfit that consist of a black, oversize Carhartt coat and mud-splattered jeans. Her face is free of makeup and her long, silver-blonde hair is piled atop her head in a messy bun accessorized with a colorful, native print earwarmer headband.

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       “Hell I would of never-look like this at the beginning of freshman year even!” laughs Matzke.

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        After graduating from Langley High School in 2012, Matzke moved half across to the country to study at CSU in Fort Collins, Colorado. Conforming to the ways of her friends from back home and her parent’s wishes, she joined Zeta Tau Alpha, the top-tier sorority at CSU and home to a gaggle of near-identical blondes.  But, after her first year, she dropped out of the sorority.

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        “I felt out of place.” Matzke explains. “Everyone was so much peppier than I was, and didn’t seem to care about the same things as me. I was the odd one out in the first place because I was one of the only Natural Resources majors there. I joined mainly because everyone else in my family had been in a frat or sorority.”

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         After dropping out of the sorority, she turned her focus to school. Noting a love of wolves from her childhood, and after discovering through guided meditation that her spirit animal was wolf , Matzke became more interested in working with the predatory animals. She began to look up wolf sanctuaries in Colorado when she discovered that just an hour west of Fort Collins was home to approximately 30 wolves at W.O.L.F. Sanctuary. She jumped at the opportunity to be in closer contact, and began volunteering in January 2015. Originally interested in working in predatory management with the park’s department, Matzke’s path was changed after her first day visiting the wolves and wolf-dogs.

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        “The first day I went up from my volunteer orientation I fell in love with working for a non-profit,” said Matzke. “You were actually helping these individual animals, and not looking at them as a pretty asset for your park. So I began looking at managing these type of non-profit, because I knew it was what I wanted to do, even though there is absolutely no money in it.”

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Pictured: Wolf-dogs, Bella Rouge and Rashan, pose for their photo with Matzke  at W.O.L.F. Sanctuary. Photo taken by Josie Lucero.

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         She continued volunteering until May when she officially became a summer intern for the sanctuary. It was during those three months, Matzke truly discovered what working with wolves and wolf-dogs was all about. Within her first weeks of interning, Matzke was given the chance to participate in a wolf rescue.

       

       Leaving at the crack of dawn on May 21, 2015,  Matzke, along with another volunteer and staff member, Michelle Proulx, and drove straight to Arizona. They had been informed that a feral wolf had been roaming around a local natural area, and was causing concern among local residents. Once they arrived in Arizona, animal control handed over the wolf to them. They then immediately drove him to the vet to assess his condition. When they first laid eyes on him, they knew something wasn’t quite right.

         

      “His belly was really bloated, which is a big flag in the first place,” said Matke. “Because it can mean any number of diseases. On top of that you could tell her was extreme malnourished.”

         

     Their visit to the vet revealed that the wolf was very sick. His heart wasn’t pumping correctly and fluid was backing up into his abdomen, causing his stomach to bloat. The vet told them that he was dying, and maybe had a couple of days to live.

         

     With heavy hearts they decided to take him back to sanctuary in Colorado to live out what few days he had remaining. But before they braved another long car ride with a wolf in tow, Matzke and the other volunteer bought him a couple of hamburgers from a nearby Wendy’s as his last meal. While sitting next to him to feeding him, Proulx told Matzke she should name him since it was her first rescue.

       

     “I named him Orion,” said Matzke. “Because Orion mean warrior, and I couldn’t think of a stronger warrior than this wolf fighting for his life in front of us.”

         

     Now six months later, Orion’s name has become the perfect fit. After beating all the odds, the male wolf is still alive and part of the community at the sanctuary. For Matzke, his success has had a profound effect on her.

        “It’s something I will never forget,” said Matzke. “I made me love this work even more because it show that what we do actually makes a difference.”

         

      The rescue has even had a more physical embodiment on her left forearm where a beautiful black and grey wolf skull with Orion's constellation has been tattooed.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

         

     

 

 

 

 

Pictured: Wolf, Orion, playfully tugging on the sleeve of Matzke coat at W.O.L.F. Sanctuary. Photo taken by Josie Lucero.

 

       In October, Matzke has official became an official staff member, and now has the busy job of Volunteer Coordinator intertwined into her last semester of college. Her position requires her to manage and coordinate anything from inquires about volunteers and internships to setting up and working educational event in the local communities.

       

      “Her commitment to these animals is so apparent,” said Proulx, “Even after her internship was over she was up here every weekend to volunteers her time.”

         

      It’s because of the commitment that she has even given up her last semester of college Friday nights to spend night guarding the animals in a tiny one person cabin. With no clean water, no indoor plumbing, and tiny propane heater, Matzke hunkers down in the cabin unless she hears a commotion from the wolves. If a ruckus ensues, she ventures into the pitch dark in a small forest green SUV with a spotlight, air horn, and a rubber-bullet gun to scare off whatever may be out there.  

         

      “This isn’t a job for the faint of heart,” said Matzke. “ I get bit, scratched, and pulled down, but that doesn’t stop me. This jobs has shown me that what we’re doing here at W.O.L.F makes an actual difference for these beautiful animal. We save them from lives of pain and suffering, and that alone keeps me coming back.”