EUREKA, Mo. – The Endangered Wolf Center is helping a species that was nearly extinct in the 1970s make a return to Arizona and New Mexico.

“We were able to foster six Mexican wolf pups born at the Endangered Wolf Center into two wild dens in New Mexico,” said Sarah Holaday, director of Animal Care & Conservation at the Endangered Wolf Center.

According to Rudyard Kipling, the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

And in the case of the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Missouri, it’s an extended pack that’s putting Mexican wolves back into the wild. 

“Their eyes are closed, and their ears are closed, and this is the perfect time to foster them because when they open their eyes, they’ll be in their foster litter,” Holaday said.  “They’re there with wild Mom and Dad and they’ll be raised by wild mom and dad and will learn to survive.” 

The nonprofit is celebrating six Mexican wolf pups born in one litter and placed in another litter in the wild.

The center’s captive-to-wild foster efforts began in 2016, and they were the first to foster Mexican wolf pups.

Since then, working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wolf Conservation Center, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, USDA Forest and Wildlife Services and Lighthawk Conservation Flying, they’ve placed 52 captive-born pups into wild dens.

“They were declared extinct in the 70s. This population is still endangered. There are still less than 400 in the wild.  So the pups we’re putting out in the wild really contribute to the genetic diversity of that population. When we put wolves back into the ecosystem, it actually becomes healthier.”