Red wolf fostering is a success. (News from Zoos).

Two red wolf pups, born at the North Carolina Zoo and inserted into a wild wolf den earlier this year, have been confirmed to be alive and in excellent health. This success marks new potential for fostering as an effective tool in red wolf recovery.

In May of this year, the North Carolina Zoological Park donated two red wolf pups to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Red Wolf Recovery Program to help foster the captive-born pups into the world's only wild red wolf population. The two-week-old siblings, one male and one female, were transferred to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, and later inserted into the den of a wild wolf female. The adult female, who was already raising two wild pups, accepted the two zoo pups as her own, and went about the daily business of raising a litter of four pups of similar age. Throughout the summer, red wolf biologists monitored the pack from a distance using radio telemetry. However, the pups were routinely well hidden in thick vegetation, and attempts to confirm their status visually were unsuccessful.

Recently, all four pups of this litter were not only seen, but also captured, and found to be in excellent health. Each pup was given a physical exam and vaccinations against parvo-virus, distemper and rabies. Each was also fitted with a radio collar and released back into the wild. All four pups returned to their original territory and rejoined their family group.

Fostering has been a successful practice within the red wolf captive-breeding program, but this marks the first time zoo-born red wolves have been placed into the wild at a very young age. To date, all red wolves released into the wild have been young adult wolves, often coming from island propagation sites in South Carolina and Florida. The ability to foster captive-born red wolves into the wild population holds many positive implications for their recovery. Fostering enhances the genetic diversity of the wild red wolf population and increases their overall chance of survival because it allows the pups to be raised by a wild mother.

Through its participation in the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP), the North Carolina Zoological Park plays an essential role in red wolf recovery. This zoo and 36 other American Zoo and Aquarium (AZA)--accredited zoos and aquariums who also participate in the Species Survival Plan provide housing, care and breeding expertise for captive red wolves. Bud Fazio, Team Leader for the Red Wolf Recovery Program, praises their work, "We work hard to restore red wolves back into the wild. Participants in the Captive Breeding Program are vital to red wolf recovery. We thank our SSP cooperators for maintaining the red wolf population long enough for us to develop and implement an effective plan to restore red wolves to the wild, where they can live out their lives wild and free." [Adapted from an article on the Red Wolves of Alligator River Web site, www.ncredwolf.org]