Meet Oak, Cedar, Sage, Lily and Aster — endangered red wolf pups just born at NC Zoo
The plight of the American red wolf in North Carolina is a harried one, from extinction in 1980 to a near-botched recovery effort over the last several years.
But in the midst of a global pandemic, some good news has emerged — puppies.
The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro announced the birth of five American red wolf puppies, three male and two female, on Friday. The pups, born April 21, are named after flora found in North Carolina — their native state.
Oak, Cedar, Sage, Lily and Aster are all “healthy and doing well,” according to the zoo.
Between 15 and 20 red wolves exist in the wilds of eastern North Carolina today, down from more than 130 in 2006, McClatchy News previously reported.
The wolves were declared extinct in the wild in 1980 after habitat loss and hunting drove down their numbers down and only a few existed in captivity. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started the American Red Wolf Recovery Program to reintroduce the species in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.
But conservation efforts have faltered, according to a federal lawsuit calling on officials to release information on the red wolf program after their numbers in the wild experienced another staggering decline.
The awsuit followed a 2018 ruling by a federal judge who declared the Trump administration had violated the Endangered Species Act when it rolled back protections for the wolves, The News & Observer reported.
Fish and Wildlife was ordered to “stop killing the animals and to stop issuing permits for others to kill them,” according to McClatchy.
Red wolf breeding programs at facilities across the U.S. have helped keep them alive.
The North Carolina Zoo’s breeding program is one facet of the American Red Wolf Recovery Program, according to Friday’s news release.
Its latest litter “brings the number of red wolves in the Zoo’s breeding program to 25, making it the second-largest pack in the U.S. after Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington,” the release states.
The Museum of Life and Science in Durham also has a breeding program. Six puppies were born at the facility last April, McClatchy reported.
In a break from tradition, the puppies — which typically don’t stay at the museum — were given names to make “people care more about them and about conservation efforts,” according to McClatchy.
There are roughly 240 red wolves in breeding programs across the U.S., the N.C. Zoo said.
The N.C. Zoo’s partnership with Fish and Wildlife’s recovery efforts started in 1994, according to Friday’s release. Since the program’s inception, the zoo said it has bred 34 wolves — 11 of which were born in the last three years.
Oak, Cedar, Sage, Lily and Aster belong to Piglet, a female, and Jewell, a male.
“The pups are being kept in a quiet, non-public viewing area of the zoo and have minimal contact with staff and keepers,” the zoo said. “This allows their mother to raise the pups with the least amount of stress in a natural habitat.”
