Wolves born at Brookfield Zoo released into wild of Arizona
Posted May 11, 2016 7:00 am
BROOKFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Two Mexican gray wolf pups born at the Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago are starting new lives in the wild of Arizona as part of a project to save the animals.
A news release from the zoo says the pups were born there last month and flown to Arizona. They were then placed in a den of wild wolves where pups had recently been born - something that increases the chances they will be accepted by the wild wolves.
Brookfield Zoo officials say there are only 97 such wolves in the wild and it is important to add new ones to improve the genetic diversity of the wild wolf population. The effort marks the second time wolves from the zoo have been released to a wild wolf den.
In this April 30, 2016, photo provided by the Chicago Zoological Society, Blaze, left, and Brooke, 5-day-old Mexican gray wolf puppies born at Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Ill., sleep while in transit to Arizona to be placed with the Elk Horn Pack of wild wolves, which will foster the pups along with its own litter as part of a recovery program for the species. The fostering of Blaze and Brooke is only the second time in the history of the program that pups born in professional care were placed with an established wild pack. (Photo Courtesy of Chicago Zoological Society via AP)
The Associated Press
In this April 30, 2016, photo provided by the Chicago Zoological Society, a 5-day-old Mexican gray wolf puppy born at Brookfield Zoo receives a neonatal examination from Chicago Zoological Society veterinary staff prior to her departure from the Zoo in Brookfield, Ill., to Arizona to be placed with a wild pack, which will foster her and her brother, Blaze, as its own. As part of the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program, adult and offspring wolves at Brookfield Zoo are potential candidates for release to the wild in order to improve the genetic diversity of the wild population. (Photo Courtesy of Chicago Zoological Society via AP)
The Associated Press
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