CHELSEA KROTZER, The Olympian
TENINO, Wash. (AP) — Emily Blade cradled the head of an anesthetized Mexican gray wolf as her colleagues hoisted the animal onto a piece of canvas.
The team of mostly university students was recording the weight of the 11-year-old wolf, known as Lorenzo, at Wolf Haven International near Tenino.
It took two men to hold a metal rod connected by a chain to the canvas to accurately gauge the animal’s weight: 85.2 pounds.
It was one of many steps necessary during Lorenzo’s annual checkup, which is required by the Species Survival Plan program.