Successful Birth of Highly Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf Pups at the California Wolf Center

July, 2007 - JULIAN, CA - New hope for highly endangered Mexican wolves emerged from a den at the California Wolf Center as five Mexican gray wolf pups were born in mid-April and ventured outside for the first time in mid-May. They received their initial medical examinations, microchips, and vaccinations on June 7, 2008, and all of the pups are healthy and in good condition. Now, they are busy exploring the new world around them.

These pups were born out of the ashes of the tragic firestorms of the past 5 years. Their mother, female 749, has survived the Pines fire of 2002, the Cedar fire of 2003, and the Witch fire of 2007. She possesses rare genes and has now contributed two successful litters of pups over a two-year period. She and her puppies will potentially be released into the wild, bolstering the Mexican wolf population in Arizona and New Mexico.

About the Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf

The Mexican wolf is one of the rarest land mammals in the world, with only about 52 individuals surviving in the wild today. Since 1997, the California Wolf Center has played an integral role in the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program as well as the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP), a bi-national captive breeding program that supports the reintroduction of the endangered Mexican gray wolf into the wild. The California Wolf Center acts as a breeding facility, currently hosting twenty four Mexican wolves. The Center is one of the largest institutions hosting Mexican wolves in the world.

Founded in 1977, the California Wolf Center is an education, conservation, and research facility located four miles south of Julian, California. The Center offers public educational programs about the role of top predators in North American ecosystems, focusing on the biology, ecology, and behavior of the gray wolf.

For more information about the California Wolf Center, please visit our website at www.californiawolfcenter.org.

About California Wolf Center

The California Wolf Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the return of wild wolves to their natural habitat and to the people who share the landscape with them. We foster communities coming together to ensure wolves, livestock, and people thrive in today’s world. Learn more at californiawolfcenter.org

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