Indiana Coyote Rescue Center is a wildlife sanctuary that provides permanent care for our resident, non-releasable coyotes. Its goal is to help educate the public on the importance of coyotes in the North American ecosystem and coexistence.
The rescue was founded by the late Cecilia Lambert in 1989 after receiving two coyote puppies from Wolf Park located in Battle Ground, Indiana. There, she volunteered and became good friends with Dr. Erich Klinghammer, founder and director of Wolf Park. In 2003, ICRC became incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. This allowed for a larger donor base, tax deductible donations, and a way for ICRC to grow as a facility and provide more specialized care for the coyotes through grants and sponsorship instead of relying so heavily on Cecilia’s fixed income.
In the winter of 2005, a person came onto ICRC property in the middle of the night and shot Amber, a former pet that had been confiscated and brought to live out the rest of her life here at the center. After being rushed in for emergency medical care, Amber survived (with the loss of one of her eyes), showing the world the resilience of the coyote. Donations came in from all over the world to help with her vet bills and a small security system, which in turn, opened up awareness about the hatred surrounding the existence of the coyote that Cecilia fought so hard to protect. After this unfortunate incident, she was more determined than ever to educate the surrounding communities on coyotes, how to coexist, and to change the commonly held mentality that coyotes were “vermin”.