Magic and Education at Red Wolf Sanctuary

A ‘Must See’ Experience in Rising Sun, Indiana!

(Left) Founder and Director Paul Strasser releasing an eagle. 

(Rising Sun, Ind.) - A sanctuary can be defined a number of ways – an oasis, a safe haven, a protected shelter or any place of safety and security. What connects each way is the idea that within a sanctuary’s boundaries, something or someone is shielded from harm that exists outside them. Red Wolf Sanctuary in Rising Sun certainly fits each description.

The Red Wolf Sanctuary and Raptor Rehabilitation Center is a vital non-profit conservation hub that plays a key role in protecting North American wildlife, preserving habitats, and educating the public.

Since 1979, Red Wolf has included special areas designed to protect animals, plants, and habitats from threats to wildlife, allowing species to thrive in their natural environment. There are also areas on site where staff and volunteers provide life-sustaining care and nutrition.

Founded in 1979, the sanctuary has over 40 years of experience rehabilitating injured, orphaned, and non-releasable animals such as red wolves, gray wolves, Arctic wolves, foxes, bobcats, bears, turtles and a variety of owls and raptors. It also rescues animals that were raised as pets and cannot survive in the wild. Each year, it rehabilitates and releases hundreds of other animals, giving them a second chance at life.

But their mission goes far beyond rescue. Red Wolf Sanctuary’s diverse 452 acreage is both a lifeline for rescued animals, and a powerful tool for inspiring conservation awareness in people in Indiana and beyond.

There are 100 acres in the sanctuary that are regulated by the USDA. Its rules determine enclosure size and designs that provide for the species’ natural needs. There are rules about opportunities for natural behaviors and mental stimulation, in addition to species-specific diets and feeding schedules. And, of course, shelter and appropriate veterinary care. The large, forested areas are where the foxes, wolves, coyotes and other animals live when they are unable to be returned to the wild. The raptors and other birds have their own protected spaces where they can roost, fly, preen, rest and forage outdoors. The bobcats and Maumee, the bear, have both indoor and outside areas to choose from.

There are acres planted with natural plants and flowers that also have lakes and flowing streams that attract insects, birds, rodents, and travelling small animals. These same acres require constant removal of invasive plants to keep the land healthy.

There are prairies, forests, and wetlands, and gravel roads maintained to carry volunteers and visitors through the incredible habitats to enjoy the scenery and see the wild animals that come to the edge of the enclosures to see who came to visit.

Personal contact is not allowed but making eye contact with a wolf or coyote who is looking right back at you is quite an experience. In the aviary, watching an eagle swoop down with wings spread feels like a movie.

After starting on 22 acres in Dillsboro, the Red Wolf moved to the much larger 452 acre Rising Sun site in July 2006, thanks to the Strasser family generosity. Paul Strasser and his wife, Dr Jane Strasser, direct operations and are hands-on with every aspect from bottle feeding a new orphaned animal to office duties.

Strasser receives calls and emails almost daily about animals in need. While he's not able to help every time due to limited funds and state regulations, he says he considers this work a calling and credits his mother with sparking his passion for saving animals.

She gave him a copy of National Geographic with the chapter "We Are Going to Lose A Few" outlining species slated for extinction in North America. He says it changed the course of his life. The first animal he rescued was a raccoon. Then came the wolves, eagles, bobcats, bears, coyotes and other animals.

Recently, when very expensive surgeries were needed to save a badly injured baby coyote, some suggested euthanasia. Strasser said, “We spend too much time accepting an end to their lives when we need to be thinking of ways to save them.”

Workdays at the sanctuary are long with feeding and care of all of the animals. If you ask how many there are, the answer can start with 80, then change hourly as new arrivals are carried into the building – 6 bats tossed about by the storm, 4 motherless baby opossums, a fox suffering with mange.

A volunteer greets visitors while watching over a furry baby in a playpen set up next to her desk. Another unfolds a towel in the office area to begin dropping milk into the mouths of squirrels so small they don’t have any fur at all. The team also stocks deliveries of food and cleaning supplies.

The stronger one's process 300 donated roadkill deer each year, as well as maintaining the indoor habitats and the outdoor acres.

There are volunteer-led daily tours so they can pass on their knowledge and fan the spark that will lead to involvement.

Red Wolf Sanctuary is a nonprofit that sustains itself mostly through donations, including food donations, and the private tours. If you are inspired to support their mission, consider a tour, a donation or attending one of these two fundraisers in the Fall:

RED WOLF RAMPAGE 5K AND 10K Trail Walk/Run that takes you along the waterways, through wetlands and fields, and past the large wildlife enclosures. Saturday, October 24th, 2026

HOWL-O-WEEN GALA will be on Friday, October 2nd, 2026, at The Redmoor, 3187 Linwood Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45208

Tours can be scheduled Monday through Saturday, by reservation, at 10 am or 1 pm. Walking or driven in RTV carts. There is no minimum size for a tour. They last 1 ½ - 2 hours. Children $10, Teens $15, Adults $25. The phone number is 812-438-2306 and email is information@redwolf.org