I’ve always wondered what life would be like if there were no such things as wildlife conservation groups and advocates for saving endangered and at-risk species. I think over the years, conservation efforts have definitely paid off and ultimately made a difference. But I don’t think that’s something many of us realize.
Either way, there’s good news that occurred recently in relation to saving endangered species. The Mexican gray wolf species, which has been considered endangered since 1976 and believed that only 163 were left as of 2019, now get to welcome 20 rescued wolf cubs into their population from a total of seven liters. And it’s all thanks to the efforts of zoo breeding programs and wolf centers in California, Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico, and Missouri for allowing this to successfully happen.
And now that they’re old enough, the pups, who were born this spring, were able to be divided into seven packs in the states of New Mexico and Arizona.
In a program managed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the 20 wolves went through a reintroduction phase known as “cross-fostering.” How it works is, the baby wolves, approximately two weeks of age, were placed with wild wolves of around the same age. Wolves who have been cross-fostered have the same survival rate in their first year as wolves who were born in the wild.
“Managing genetics is one of the biggest challenges facing Mexican wolf conservation, even as constant progress is being made on numeric recovery,” Jim deVos, an assistant director at the Arizona Department, explained. “Cross-fostering young pups works in increasing genetic diversity.”
Fortunately, conservation has greatly helped this wolf population survive as long as it has.
The Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT) has been helping cross-foster wolf pups since 2014. Thanks to them, at least 30 wild-born pups were taken in to be fostered, and approximately 10 wolves that have been cross-fostered were able to be successfully distributed into wolf packs and ultimately survive. However, the team doesn’t collar and track all of the wolves they foster, so it’s possible that more were able to survive after being integrated into a pack.
It’s just so great to hear that a very at-risk species is now doing a little better thanks to the effort of some great, caring individuals. Although the Mexican wolf population has a long way to go, at least there’s good news that we can relish!
