PREVIEW

These adorable little fellows are among the nine Mexican wolf pups born at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo in April.
Seven of the cute critters - who will grow up to be rather more fearsome - were successfully placed into wild dens in New Mexico in May as part of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program aimed at bolstering the subspecies' population in the southwestern United States and Mexico.
At just 10 days old, the pups—six males and one female—were carefully transported to New Mexico. During their journey, two animal care specialists and a veterinary technician from Brookfield Zoo ensured the pups were well-fed and kept warm. The air transportation was provided by LightHawk Conservation Flying, a nonprofit organization that partners with pilots to assist in conservation projects.
Upon arrival in New Mexico, members of the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team covered the pups with the scent of similarly aged wild pups to integrate them seamlessly into their new dens. Each pup was swabbed for DNA and given a studbook number before being placed back in the den. Biologists monitored the radio-collared mothers to ensure they accepted the zoo-born pups. This fostering process, which improves the genetic diversity of the wild population, marked a milestone this year with the 100th pup placed in the wild since fostering began in 2014.
“As part of our ongoing collaboration in the Program, we were thrilled to once again be able to contribute to this year’s fostering of pups,” said Mark Wanner, associate vice present of animal care and conservation at the Zoo. “We are extremely proud to be a part of this effort and share its success with our guests and hopefully inspire them to also care about these magnificent creatures that play an important role in the ecosystem.”
Two additional female pups from the same litter remain at Brookfield Zoo. They are still in a den with their mother but will soon be visible to guests at the Regenstein Wolf Woods habitat, alongside their parents, 5-year-old Vivilette and 11-year-old Amigo, and their older brother, Ahote, born in 2023.
The Mexican Wolf Recovery Program includes partners such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, USDA Forest Service, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ SAFE Mexican Wolf program. Since 2003, Brookfield Zoo has participated in the program, contributing to successful fostering, cross-fostering, and the release of an adult wolf to the wild.
The Mexican wolf, the rarest and most genetically distinct subspecies of grey wolf in North America, once numbered around 4,000 in its historic range across central and northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Listed as endangered in 1976, Mexican wolves were considered extinct in the wild from the 1980s until reintroduction efforts began in 1998. The 2023 census by the USFWS recorded a minimum of 257 wild Mexican wolves, marking the eighth consecutive year of population growth.