ASHEBORO, N.C. — The North Carolina Zoo has announced the birth of five American red wolves.
The animals are critically endangered. There are only 15 to 20 red wolves still believed to be in the wild in eastern North Carolina.
The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro announced the births in a statement on Friday. The five pups were born as part of its American red wolf breeding program.
The five new pups – three males and two females – were born on April 21. The pups and their mother are all healthy, officials said.
We're thrilled to announce the birth of 5 American red wolves as part of our red wolf breeding program! Born April 21st, the pups & their mother are all healthy & doing well.
— North Carolina Zoo (@NCZoo) May 8, 2020
With only 15-20 red wolves in the wild, only in NC, they're the most endangered canid in the world. pic.twitter.com/SoUqRj47LV
The litter brings the number of red wolves in the zoo’s breeding program to 25. That makes it the second-largest pack in the nation after Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington.
The pups were all named after plants found in the state.
The male pups are named Oak for the Appalachian oak, Cedar for the red cedar, and Sage for the azure sage. The females are named Lily for the Carolina lily and Aster for the piedmont Aster. Their parents are named Piglet and Jewell. The Zoo said this is the first litter for the couple.
Currently, the “pups are being kept in a quiet, non-public viewing area of the Zoo and have minimal contact with staff and keepers. This allows their mother to raise the pups with the least amount of stress in a natural habitat,” the zoo said.
“Congratulations to the North Carolina Zoo for playing an essential part toward helping this critically endangered species recover,” said Susi H. Hamilton, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “It’s yet another example of the Zoo doing amazing work to conserve wildlife and wild places.”
Red wolves were nearly driven to extinction during the late 1960s before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started a conservation effort to save the species, according to the release.
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