Red wolf fostering a success
By Kathi Keys
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
ASHEBORO – Two red wolf pups, born at the N.C. Zoo in April and introduced into
the wild in May, are reported to be alive and in excellent health.
The zoo-born pups, the youngest to be placed in the wild, were put with a wild
wolf female who was raising her own young at the Alligator River National
Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina.
Two weeks old at the time, the pups were implanted with microchips for
permanent identification and transported by zoo keepers to the refuge for the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Red Wolf Recovery Program.
Five days after they were placed in the den of the wild female raising two pups
of identical age, a USFWS biologist reported that the zoo-born pups were still
with the wild red wolves.
The biologists monitored the pack from a distance, using radio telemetry,
throughout the summer. They reported that the pups were routinely well hidden
in thick vegetation and their attempts to confirm the animals’ status were
unsuccessful.
During the past month, the USFWS biologists not only saw all four pups of the
liter, but captured them and found all to be in excellent health. At 7 months
old, the pups were large enough to be fitted with radio-telemetry collars.
The young male zoo pup was captured on Nov. 26 and weighed approximately 44
pounds. One of his wild-born littermates was also captured that day, weighing
47 pounds.
The second wild-born male pup was captured on Dec. 12, weighing 53 pounds.
Finally, after much effort and anticipation, the female zoo pup was captured on
Dec. 15, weighing 44 pounds.
Each pup was given a physical exam and vaccinations against parvo-virus,
distemper and rabies. Each was also fitted with a radio collar, for USFWS
biologists to monitor their movements, and released back into the wild.
All four pups returned to their original territory and rejoined their family
group – gratifying news to officials with the USFWS and the N.C. Zoo.
Fostering has been a successful practice within the red wolf captive-breeding
program, but this marks the first time zoo-born red wolves have been placed
into the wild at a very young age.
Prior to this introduction, all red wolves released into the wild were young
adult wolves, often coming from island propagation sites in South Carolina and
Florida, according to the USFWS.
The two zoo-born pups now at the Alligator River refuge were part of a litter
of six – the N.C. Zoo’s second birth of the endangered red wolves. Their mother
was one of five red wolves born in the zoo’s first litter in May 1997. The zoo
presently has 12 red wolves, including the four other pups born in April this
year.
The ability to foster captive-born red wolves into the wild population holds
many positive implications for the recovery of endangered red wolves. USFWS
officials also say that fostering offers a unique and exciting way to release
captive-born wolves into the wild and enhances the genetic diversity of the
wild red wolf population. Fostering pups at a very young age increases their
overall chance of survival, because it allows the pups to be raised by a wild
mother.
Through its participation in the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP), the N.C.
Zoo plays an essential role in red wolf recovery. The local zoo and 36 others,
who also participate in the Species Survival Plan, provide housing, care and
breeding expertise for captive red wolves.
Bud Fazio, team leader for the Red Wolf Recovery Program, praises their work.
“We work hard to restore red wolves back into the wild. Participants in the
Captive Breeding Program are vital to red wolf recovery. We thank our SSP
cooperators for maintaining the red wolf population long enough for us to
develop and implement an effective plan to restore red wolves to the wild,
where they can live out their lives wild and free.”
The N.C. Zoo has participated in the red wolf recovery effort since 1993,
providing not only an exhibit and breeding facilities, but advisors for the SSP
and veterinary care for the wild wolves at Alligator River.
The zoo has also developed an award-winning educational website on the history
of the red wolf and the recovery program at
For more information about local national wildlife refuges, visit