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In the mid-1970s, Brookfield Zoo has played

only seven a leading role in a successful
cross-fostering program
Mexican Wolves that is helping to bring back

remained this rarest of species.
in the wild.

n the world of Mexican wolf conservation,
Brookfield Zoo-born Blaze is a star.
O
I nly a few days after he was born in 2016
at REGENSTEIN WOLF WOODS—and before
he had even opened his eyes for the first time—Blaze
and his sister Brooke were carefully removed from
their den at the zoo. Accompanied by members of
Brookfield Zoo’s animal care staff, they were taken
to Arizona, where the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Recovery
Team placed them into a wild den with other recently
born pups who became their new brothers and sisters.
The puppies’ parents accepted Blaze and Brooke as
their own.
When Blaze matured, he went on to form a new
pack and fathered five pups in 2018 and seven pups
in 2019 with a wild female. He was the first cross-
fostered wolf to receive a fostered pup into his pack.
The female pup, which was born in a zoo, did well
under the care of Blaze and the alpha female.
What is a cross-fostered wolf? A cross-fostered wolf
is either an animal born under professional care that
is raised by “foster” parents in the wild, or a wild-born
animal raised by “foster” parents in a zoo or other
facility. Last year, 20 zoo-born pups were placed
into seven wild dens.
The size of a German shepherd dog, Mexican
wolves are the smallest subspecies of gray wolf in
North America—and the rarest. Once numerous
throughout Mexico and the American Southwest,
they became scarce in the 1920s due to habitat
loss and government-sponsored predator
extermination programs.

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