During the week of March 22-29, we celebrate the iconic Mexican wolf and recognize the 22nd anniversary of its reintroduction to the wild in the U.S. Through the combined efforts of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and 52 participating organizations, there are now a minimum of 131 free-ranging Mexican wolves in the southwest and approximately 300 living in captivity in the United States and Mexico. Currently 13 Mexican wolves reside at Wolf Haven, with one pair recommended for breeding this year.
Although the number of Mexican wolves has increased substantially from the seven founding members of the Species Survival Plan (SSP) program, they remain critically endangered. In last month's World of Wolves, we wrote about efforts to preserve the reproductive cells of F1046 (Abu), a 13-year old Mexican wolf female at Wolf Haven.
Dr. Brown performing neutering surgery on
M1066 (Moss) at Yelm Veterinary Hospital.
F1046 (Abu) and M1066 (Moss)
in their shared enclosure.
This month, we followed a similar process for her enclosure mate, 12-year old M1066 (Moss). Dr. Brown of Yelm Veterinary Hospital performed a neutering surgery. After Moss' testes were removed, we carefully packed them in a cooler and shipped them to the Research Department at Saint Louis Zoo for reproductive specialist Karen Bauman and her team to retrieve and freeze epididimal sperm and testicular tissue. This will be banked for potential future application in Mexican wolf conservation!
Sanctuary Manager/Mexican Wolf SSP Liaison, Pamela Maciel packs Moss' testes to be shipped overnight.
Moss recovers from anesthesia in his
crate following surgery.
Moss and Abu are now both retired from the MWSSP captive breeding program, and will live their days out together in the peace of our sanctuary.
A Midsummer's Night
Set alarm - tickets on sale
March 10, 9am
Call
360.264.4695 x220 or select
Reservations on the Wolf Haven
website at 9:00am next Tuesday to get a spot. Limited space means that our Midsummer's Night" events sell out quickly!
