Authorities have placed several of Mexican wolf pups in dens across the United States in a bid to strengthen the population of the endangered species.
Could Mexican wolves born at an Illinois zoo help bolster the species' dwindling numbers in the wild? That's the hope of authorities who have placed several of the pups in dens across the United States in a bid to strengthen the population.
The seven pups were born at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago on April 27.
Their birth was a cause for celebration, as Mexican wolves have been on the endangered list since 1976.
The rarest subset of gray wolves in North America, their population was once around 4,000. But in 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said there were only 241 documented in the wild.
Four male and two female pups have left their brother in Illinois to join new wolf families.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Mexican Wolf Recovery Program has placed the pups in wild Mexican wolf dens in the hopes of strengthening the population. Three of the pups joined a pack in Arizona and the rest joined a pack in New Mexico.
This year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has fostered 16 Mexican wolf pups from partner zoos into wild packs - with the hope promise that one day this animal will no longer be endangered.
Related Stories
