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One of six pups born to endangered red wolves at Durham museum dies
Wed, Apr 17, 2002
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DURHAM
One of the six endangered red-wolf pups born last week
at the Museum of Life and Science died yesterday, the
museum said.
The six pups – three males and three females – were
born at the Durham museum last Wednesday, delighting
those responsible for trying to bring the species back
from the brink of extinction.
The one pup that died was the runt of the litter, the
museum said. He began struggling for life Tuesday
morning and died in the afternoon.
“We are deeply saddened, but we know everything
possible was done for him,” said Thomas H. Krakauer,
the museum’s president.
“Our animal department has been in constant contact
with red-wolf experts the past week, and took every
measure possible for the health and well-being of all
the pups,” Krakauer said.
The pups were born to a father provided by the
red-wolf recovery program operated by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service near Manteo and a mother from the
N.C. Zoological Park in Asheboro.
This was the second time that red wolves have bred
successfully at the museum since its first ones
arrived in November 1992, resulting in a litter of
pups in May 1993.
The Durham museum’s wolves are part of a
captive-rearing program at more than 30 locations. The
Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville and
the N.C. Zoo are the other North Carolina sites
involved.
Thousands of red wolves originally roamed from
Pennsylvania to Florida to Texas, living mostly in
underground dens.
The red wolf was listed as an endangered species in
1967, under a law that preceded the Endangered Species
Act of 1973.
About 250 red wolves survive today.
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