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Working hand-in-hand with the USFWS Mexican Wolf
Wolves continued
Recovery Program is the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan®
(SSP) of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. An SSP is a
cooperative population management and conservation program
for mostly endangered or threatened species. Species Survival
Plans work with geneticists to make sure animals too closely
related to each other do not breed.
Facts About Packs The teams of both programs regularly meet during the
Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan Annual Meeting. In 2018,
Wolves live in packs with complex social structures. the meeting was held at Brookfield Zoo and drew Daniels’
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service defines a wolf pack as colleagues from Mexico and the U.S., and their Fish & Wildlife
two or more wolves that maintain an established territory. Service partners. The meeting gives scientists and conservationists
• Pack sizes vary, but usually have between 12 and an opportunity to share their knowledge and research findings,
14 members. and further develop a master plan to support the species—both
• Packs are highly structured and hierarchical. They are animals in the wild and in professional care.
“We work together collectively to determine which animals
headed up by an alpha male and an alpha female. to breed, which need to move from one facility to another, and
Each pack member has a role. which animals will be released,” said Daniels. A breeding and
• Wolves communicate by vocalizing and scent marking. transfer plan is created and shared in the fall each year. If the
They also use their body posture and facial expressions plan calls for the transfer of animals, they are moved by January,
to display dominance or submission. before the beginning of breeding season.
• Packs are cooperative, with many benefits At the annual meeting, animals are also chosen for cross-
for members. They hunt as a group, so they can bring fostering, for artificial insemination, and for semen collection and
down larger prey than an individual animal alone. banking. CZS participates in these initiatives. Our veterinarians
Pack members cooperate in raising pups, caring for have engaged in the collection and storage of semen from many
sick and older members, and defending their territory of the male wolves that have resided at Brookfield Zoo. They have
and food supply. also conducted preliminary artificial insemination trials to help
• The average litter size is from 8 to 10 pups, with about develop successful techniques.
In fall 2019, the breeding and transfer plan called for our
50 percent dying during their first year. By the age of 2, breeding pair at the time, Apache and Ela, to be moved to Living
the majority of young wolves leave their pack to join Desert State Park in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Early the next year,
another pack or start their own. A small percentage our new alpha/breeding pair—Amigo and Sibi—arrived. Amigo,
of wolves remain on their own. the male, arrived from Mesker Park Zoo in Indiana. The female,
Above, left: 2021 Wolf Pack —Vivilette, Amigo, and Sibi
Above, right: Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer of Veterinary Services performs a neonatal exam on a pup.
18 GATEWAYS | WOLVES