Brookfield Zoo Establishing New Endangered Mexican Wolf Pack

BROOKFIELD, IL — With the start of a new year comes a new alpha wolf pair at Brookfield Zoo. Last month, the zoo said a 7-year-old male Mexican wolf, named Apache, arrived from Albuquerque Bio Park in New Mexico. Animal care staff is hopeful that he and 2-year-old Ela will have a successful breeding season this winter and produce a litter of puppies this spring.

“While this is Ela’s first experience meeting a male outside of her natal pack, she is a confident wolf and we expect her to bond well with Apache,” Joan Daniels, curator of mammals for the Chicago Zoological Society, said in a release. “Ela’s familiarity with the successful den sites in the habitat at Brookfield Zoo and observations of her mother Zana rearing a litter in 2017 makes her the perfect partner for Apache.”

Due to Brookfield Zoo’s breeding success in the past, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan requested the zoo establish this new breeding pair as well as participate in ongoing reproduction studies for the species. According to the zoo, over the years, CZS has collaborated on two cross-fosterings of pups born at the zoo; the release of one of its adult females to the wild, who subsequently had a litter of pups; and took part in population-wide fertility studies evaluating methods to improve pregnancy rates.

Currently, there are about 114 Mexican wolves living in the wild in the U.S. and approximately 31 in Mexico. The zoo said the necessity of this transfer for the survival of this species makes the services provided by LightHawk even more crucial.

LightHawk is a nonprofit organization that connects pilots with conservation organizations to help transfer endangered species to new homes. Pilot Chuck Yanke and Julie Tromblay, his co-pilot, volunteered to fly Apache to Illinois.

“We are extremely grateful to Chuck and Julie for donating their time and services to help in the conservation efforts for the Mexican wolf,” added Daniels.

Back in October, the zoo said all the wolves at Brookfield Zoo, with the exception of Ela, were placed at other facilities based on recommendations from the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan.

Photos provided by Chicago Zoological Society.