I'll Huff, and I'll Puff, and I'll Blow Your House Down!

Photo courtesy of the Binghamton Zoo

The Binghamton Zoo has three new red wolves! As of January 6, 2014, the mother and two daughter wolves came to Binghamton from Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. Two keepers and the curator drove all day to Connecticut to pick them up in a U-Haul and they arrived later that evening. All of the keepers and staff were at the zoo to welcome them (and to make sure the wolves didn't scale our newly renovated fences; red wolves are known to be excellent climbers). Red wolves Momma, Piglet, and Miku have moved into one side of the Wolf Woods exhibit while Remus, Binghamton Zoo's gray wolf, will stay on the other side. Remus is enjoying his chance to interact with the three girls through the fence.

Red wolves are indigenous to the eastern United States and are considered one of the rarest canids in the world. Listed as "Extinct in the Wild" in 1980, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service caught 14 of the remaining wild population to be housed in a captive breeding facility. In 1987, the USFWS reintroduced them into eastern North Carolina. With only approximately 175 wolves left, they are now considered "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN. The main threat to wild red wolf populations is hybridization with coyotes.

Momma, Piglet, and Miku are settling in nicely so far!