Mexican Wolves Born at Brookfield Zoo Venture Out of Den
May 27, 2022
Three Pups Fostered with Pack in New Mexico to Help Wild Mexican Wolf Population
Brookfield, Ill. — The Chicago Zoological Society (CZS), which manages Brookfield Zoo, is thrilled to announce the birth of five Mexican wolves. The litter was born on April 26 to 3-year-old Vivilette. Two of the month-old male pups have begun to venture out of their den to explore their surroundings at the zoo’s Regenstein Wolf Woods habitat, while their three siblings were released to the wild as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan.
To enhance the genetic diversity of the wild population, USFWS recommended three of the pups from Brookfield Zoo’s litter become part of the fostering program. On May 5, a Chicago Zoological Society senior veterinary technician and lead animal care specialist accompanied the 10-day-old pups—two males and one female—on a flight to New Mexico, courtesy of LightHawk Conservation Flying, a nonprofit organization that partners pilots with organizations to help transfer endangered species to new homes among other conservation projects. The pups were then successfully placed in the den of the Whitewater Canyon wolf pack by the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team.
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