Pup Born At Wolf Conservation Center In NY Joins Pack In The Wild

SOUTH SALEM, NY — A tiny New Yorker has been sent to live in the wild.

The Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) recently announced that a Mexican gray wolf pup born at the center was cross-fostered into the Iron Creek Pack in New Mexico. The WCC described the interstate adoption in the wild as "one small step for an endangered pup, one giant leap for Mexican gray wolves."

The South Salem-based group also thanked the pup's parents, Trumpet and Lighthawk, "for their continued sacrifice and contributions to the recovery of their rare and essential subspecies."

The mission was part of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services program's seventh fostering season efforts, in which 11 genetically valuable captive-born Mexican wolf pups from across the U.S. were placed into five wild packs across New Mexico and Arizona to be raised in the wild by surrogate parents.

A major problem when trying to increase the populations of endangered species, like the Mexican gray wolves, is increasing their genetic diveristy. When a population nears extinction, there won't be much variety in the genetic backgrounds, which leaves the species vulnerable to mutations and not able to adapt well to the environment.

The Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT) has used fostering of captive-born pups as a proven way of increasing genetic diversity in the wild Mexican wolf population.

The efforts begin long before the pups are born, with carefully managed breeding by the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP) program. The result is the birth of genetically diverse pups within the captive population. Within 14 days of "whelping," the captive-born pups are transported to the wild and mixed in with similarly aged wild pups.

When all of the pups are placed back into the wild den, the breeding female's maternal instincts kick in and she will feed and care for both the wild and captive-born pups. With the help of her pack mates, the pups will be raised with the skills and knowledge they need for life in the wild. The IFT found that fostered pups end up having the same survival rate as wild-born pups in their first year of life, around 50 percent.

"The care, planning and teamwork that went into this year’s cross-fostering is remarkable," Ed Davis, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Ed Davis said in a statement announcing this season's successful undertaking. "Many contributed to the success of this year’s efforts, including interns, biologists, veterinarians, captive facility staff, and individuals that provided flight support. It will take all of us continuing to work together to achieve greater genetic diversity in the wild population.”

Five different captive-born litters across the U.S. provided Mexican wolf pups for fostering into the wild population this year:

• Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York: one litter provided one pup fostered into the Iron Creek Pack in New Mexico.
• Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Illinois: one litter provided three pups fostered into the Whitewater Canyon Pack in New Mexico.
• El Paso Zoo in El Paso, Texas: one litter provided two pups fostered into the Dark Canyon Pack in New Mexico and one pup fostered into the Iron Creek Pack in New Mexico.
• Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale AZ: one litter provided two pups fostered into the Rocky Prairie Pack in Arizona.
• Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, in Socorro, New Mexico: one litter provided two pups fostered into the Buzzard Peak Pack in New Mexico.

"Although the 11 pups fostered is lower than hoped for, it is a major contribution to managing genetic improvements in the wild population," said Jim deVos, Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Mexican Wolf Coordinator. "Since the inception of the program, 83 pups have been placed into wild wolf dens and as a result, three of four genetic metrics have shown improvements, which bodes well for the long-term survival of the Mexican wolf. Planning has already begun for the 2023 fostering program, with a goal of getting more pups in dens next year than this year."

Since the beginning of the cross-fostering program, at least 13 pups have survived two years in the wild or longer and reached breeding age. Four of these wolves have reproduced in the wild, and at least seven litters from cross-fostered wolves have been documented through 2021.

In addition to the four fostered wolves that have already been documented reproducing in the wild, the IFT observed denning behavior this spring from three other 2-year-old cross-fostered wolves that are breeding for the first time in 2022. Results from studying the denning behavior will not be documented until later in the spring and summer when pups become active and more visible.

The pups are too young to be radio-collared when fostered, but genetic samples are taken so they can be identified if captured one day in the future. Program officials said it is likely that other fostered pups are currently alive and contributing to improving the genetic diversity of the wild population and helping meet recovery criteria, but have not yet been recaptured.

Mexican gray wolves are a subspecies of the gray wolf and were once commonly found across the Southwest U.S. and Mexico. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Mexican gray wolves were almost wiped out after the U.S. government paid hunters to trap and poison them in the 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, leading to the subspecies to be listed as endangered in 1976. After wild wolves were captured and bred in zoos, 11 captive wolves were reintroduced into Arizona and New Mexico in 1998. The population of Mexican gray wolves has grown from 22 (wild and captive) in 1976 to 309 in 2004.

A 2021 census showed at least 196 wild Mexican wolves in the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area. This is a five percent increase in the population from at least 186 wolves counted the previous year. This is the sixth consecutive year of growth in the wild population, which is a doubling of the population since 2015.

Cross-fostering was made possible through the efforts of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Lands Office, U.S. Forest Service and the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan.

The Wolf Conservation Center is located at 7 Buck St. in South Salem. More information can be found on their website.