Mesker's wolves tapped to adopt cubs
Maggie Howell / Wolf Conservation Center
Mexican gray wolf pups born at the Wolf Conservation Center, held here
by Rebecca Bose, will be introduced to a pair of foster parents at the
Evansville zoo.
If all turns out well, one of Mesker Park Zoo’s animal couples will soon serve as foster parents to two endangered wolf pups.
A pair of male Mexican gray wolves came to the zoo last week the day after they were born at a sanctuary in New York. The plan is to have the zoo’s two adult wolves, which came to Evansville in November, be the foster parents to the young wolves. The adult pair already has a solid track record, both as foster parents and in rearing their own biological pups.
Advocates for the Mexican gray wolf consider the two newest arrivals extremely important because the pups’ mother is considered genetically important to the breed’s survival. But the litter could be the mother’s last since she’s 11 years old,
The biological mother has not had much luck keeping her pups alive.
Susan Lindsey, the animal curator at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic
Garden, said the mother’s first litter of eight offspring all survived,
but only a few have lived from subsequent litters.
“Last year, she had eight pups and all eight died within a month,” said Maggie Howell, the executive director of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, N.Y., where the pups were born. “Out of the last 19 pups that she has had, only two have survived.”
The Mexican gray wolf is a rare breed — with only 300 in captivity and about 75 in the wild. Four decades ago, there were only seven Mexican gray wolves left in captivity, which is why genetics are such an important factor in the species’ comeback.
Howell called the decision to separate the pups from their mother “heartbreaking” but necessary. She noted also that while her facility has 14 gray wolves, none of them has as good a record of successfully raising pups as the pair here. Howell said the pups spent 18 hours with their mother before they were transported to Evansville via a private plane provided by the nonprofit group LightHawk, which provides flights for conservation-related efforts.
“Taking these day-old pups and getting them on a plane and everything else is very risky, but it all worked out well,” Howell said. “And everything that I have heard from the Mesker Zoo, the pups are still doing well. So it looks like this might just end up being a very successful mission.”
Lindsey said Monday morning that both pups appeared to be in good general health, though she noted that one was growing more quickly than the other.
“We’re certainly not out of the woods, but things look very promising at this time,” she said.
The “mission” to get the wolves to Evansville took months of planning, Lindsey said. In fact, discussions of moving the pups took place even before the adult pair was placed at Mesker. Zoo officials had to make sure the two wolves here did not mate in case their fostering services were needed.
“We separated them this year hoping that this female (in New York) would get pregnant and that there would be some surviving puppies. (We knew) that we would be asking this pair at Mesker to do something a little bit extraordinary,” Lindsey said.
The steps of introducing the young wolves to their “parents” — and the public — should take about a month, though that timetable will be dictated by how the wolves react to each other, Lindsay said.
Currently, staff members are hand-feeding the pups. The young wolves will then be introduced to moistened dog food. The parent-pup introductions will also be done on a gradual basis, according to Lindsey. She said zoo staff will first introduce the pups’ smells to the foster parents and then hopefully proceed from there. That progression will also include allowing the pups and adult wolves to spend time looking at each other until a bond is established.
One indication that the adults are ready to accept the potential additions will be when they are willing to regurgitate their food for the pups’ consumption, Lindsey said.
“(That) is their way of feeding the puppies, and the puppies will be soliciting that,” she said. “When we see the kind of cues on the adults’ faces, that will be our cue to open up things and allow them to be whole, to live together.”
source
A pair of male Mexican gray wolves came to the zoo last week the day after they were born at a sanctuary in New York. The plan is to have the zoo’s two adult wolves, which came to Evansville in November, be the foster parents to the young wolves. The adult pair already has a solid track record, both as foster parents and in rearing their own biological pups.
Advocates for the Mexican gray wolf consider the two newest arrivals extremely important because the pups’ mother is considered genetically important to the breed’s survival. But the litter could be the mother’s last since she’s 11 years old,
Maggie Howell / Wolf Conservation Center
One of the Mexican gray wolf pups born at the Wolf Conservation Center is seen before coming to Evansville.
“Last year, she had eight pups and all eight died within a month,” said Maggie Howell, the executive director of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, N.Y., where the pups were born. “Out of the last 19 pups that she has had, only two have survived.”
The Mexican gray wolf is a rare breed — with only 300 in captivity and about 75 in the wild. Four decades ago, there were only seven Mexican gray wolves left in captivity, which is why genetics are such an important factor in the species’ comeback.
Howell called the decision to separate the pups from their mother “heartbreaking” but necessary. She noted also that while her facility has 14 gray wolves, none of them has as good a record of successfully raising pups as the pair here. Howell said the pups spent 18 hours with their mother before they were transported to Evansville via a private plane provided by the nonprofit group LightHawk, which provides flights for conservation-related efforts.
“Taking these day-old pups and getting them on a plane and everything else is very risky, but it all worked out well,” Howell said. “And everything that I have heard from the Mesker Zoo, the pups are still doing well. So it looks like this might just end up being a very successful mission.”
Lindsey said Monday morning that both pups appeared to be in good general health, though she noted that one was growing more quickly than the other.
“We’re certainly not out of the woods, but things look very promising at this time,” she said.
The “mission” to get the wolves to Evansville took months of planning, Lindsey said. In fact, discussions of moving the pups took place even before the adult pair was placed at Mesker. Zoo officials had to make sure the two wolves here did not mate in case their fostering services were needed.
“We separated them this year hoping that this female (in New York) would get pregnant and that there would be some surviving puppies. (We knew) that we would be asking this pair at Mesker to do something a little bit extraordinary,” Lindsey said.
The steps of introducing the young wolves to their “parents” — and the public — should take about a month, though that timetable will be dictated by how the wolves react to each other, Lindsay said.
Currently, staff members are hand-feeding the pups. The young wolves will then be introduced to moistened dog food. The parent-pup introductions will also be done on a gradual basis, according to Lindsey. She said zoo staff will first introduce the pups’ smells to the foster parents and then hopefully proceed from there. That progression will also include allowing the pups and adult wolves to spend time looking at each other until a bond is established.
One indication that the adults are ready to accept the potential additions will be when they are willing to regurgitate their food for the pups’ consumption, Lindsey said.
“(That) is their way of feeding the puppies, and the puppies will be soliciting that,” she said. “When we see the kind of cues on the adults’ faces, that will be our cue to open up things and allow them to be whole, to live together.”
source
No comments:
Post a Comment