Image of the Day

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Red wolf pups are out and exploring at the zoo

During the media debut of six-week-old red wolf pups at Point Defiance Zoo Wednesday, June 28, 2012 one finds daily life can get tiring hanging out with mom Millie. The red wolf, Canis rufus, has a historical range of the southeastern U.S., but today the species is endangered with only roughly 100 wild wolves that are in the North Carolina preserve. In the 1970s the number of red wolves was in the teens. "Point Defiance was the leader in the red wolf recovery," says Kris Sherman of the zoo, "We've been a pioneer in their recovery." The zoo is having a naming contest for the pups on their website.






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Welcome the new Red Wolf pups at Point Defiance Zoo!

Millie, an endangered red wolf at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, gave birth to a litter of pups over an approximately 30-hour period beginning May 13.

The births represent another milestone in an effort established at Point Defiance Zoo in 1973 to save the extremely fragile species from extinction.

Millie, an 8-year-old female, whelped the pups in an out-of-view den area.  Their father is 9-year-old Graham.

Although they are the first red wolves born on zoo grounds in 29 years, the program has produced hundreds of pups at off-site breeding facilities since its inception.

“We are proud that the animals have settled well into their new home and that we are able to contribute to red wolf breeding efforts here at the zoo,” said General Curator Karen Goodrowe Beck, who also is reproductive adviser to the Special Survival Plan. “The births provide a remarkable opportunity for our visitors to connect with this species and for all of us to aid in their conservation.”

The first litter of pups in the red wolf recovery program was born at the zoo in 1977; this year marks the 35th anniversary of that event. Those births were the watershed moment in the recovery of the species.

By the 1970s, a scant 14 were all that remained of the once populous species. In 1980, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the red wolf biologically extinct in the wild. Today, some 100 roam the Red Wolf Recovery Area operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in northeastern North Carolina. Roughly 40 pups have been born there this year, and all of them are descendants of red wolves born through the breeding and recovery program.

But the population, whose range once extended across the Southeastern United States, remains threatened by a number of environmental and human factors.

The breeding and recovery program is a cooperative effort among 41 U.S. zoos and wildlife centers and the Fish & Wildlife Service. It is part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Species Survival Plan.There are approximately 196 adults and juveniles at the cooperating facilities, including 37 pups born in nine litters this spring.

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