Liz Mahaffey receiving a Rotary mug from Rotary President Bill Sweetser. Liz Mahaffey, founder and Director of Wolf Sanctum provided an informative program to the members of the Rotary Club of Spruce Pine on Thursday, June 14. The Wolf Sanctum is located in Bakersville and was started in 2001. Liz also is a jewelry maker and a retired sheriff's deputy from Georgia. The wolf sanctum is a viable tourist attraction.They are not a game farm which is a place raising exotic animals and then turn them loose. They provide internships for biology students. There has never been a US case where a wolf has attacked and killed a human. She just wants to educate people about wolves and stop all the rumors about how dangerous they are. She has been working with wolves for 27 years. All the ones she has are spayed or neutered. She has 12 wolves and 2 coyotes and has a USDA license to have 25. Grey wolf is also called an arctic wolf. The red wolf was introduced to Mitchell County unsuccessful, and they eat raccoons. The wolves they have are domestically bred. They could not be returned to the wild because hunting is a learned behavior when very small. They are funded by the gift shop at the sanctum, tours, donations and small grants. They eat chickens and some hunters bring left over deer meat from the hunt. They also love watermelon. They also like a treat of blackberries and caramels. Life span is 10-14 years domestically, wild is 7 years. The wolf is a pack animal. As they continue to breed domestically, their brain power goes down. Every position of their tails means a different mood, like mean or friendly, like stay or run! They are exceptionally shy.