Two Brookfield Zoo Wolf Pups Answer The Call Of The Wild

Mexican gray wolf
Blaze, left, and Brooke, 5-day-old Mexican gray wolf puppies born at Brookfield Zoo, sleep while in transit to Arizona to be placed with the Elk Horn Pack of wild wolves, which will foster the pups along with its own litter as part of a recovery program for the species. The fostering of Blaze and Brooke is only the second time in the history of the program that pups born in professional care were placed with an established wild pack. Courtesy of Chicago Zoological Society / AP Photo
Mexican gray wolf
Blaze, left, and Brooke, 5-day-old Mexican gray wolf puppies born at Brookfield Zoo, sleep while in transit to Arizona to be placed with the Elk Horn Pack of wild wolves, which will foster the pups along with its own litter as part of a recovery program for the species. The fostering of Blaze and Brooke is only the second time in the history of the program that pups born in professional care were placed with an established wild pack. Courtesy of Chicago Zoological Society / AP Photo

Two Brookfield Zoo Wolf Pups Answer The Call Of The Wild

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Two Mexican Gray Wolf puppies from Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo joined a wild wolf pack in Arizona last week.

The two pups, named Brooke and Blaze, were placed directly in a wild litter — a move made easier because wolves typically leave their den when people approach.

Because Mama Wolf can’t count, The Brookfield Zoo’s Joan Daniels says it’s a simple case of helping the new puppies blend in.

“They collect feces and urine from the puppies and then make everyone smell the same” says Daniels.

Daniels says the careful introduction of pups like Blaze and Brooke will help bolster the Mexican Gray Wolf population. There are currently only 97 of these wolves in the wild.