The pups mark another success for the Tacoma zoo’s effort to save the species.
TACOMA, Wash. — South Puget Sound just welcomed some new fuzzy friends to the community.
Nine red wolf pups were born April 18 at a Point Defiance Zoo facility to first-time mother Violet, the zoo announced on social media Thursday. The litter includes six males and three females.
“The wiggly, growing pups received a visual check from a keeper and are doing well in their cozy den with their parents,” the zoo’s Northwest Trek Wildlife Park facility wrote in a social media post. “The pups will remain behind the scenes at our off-site red wolf facility.”
Red wolves, native to the southeastern United States, are critically endangered. Officials said the Tacoma zoo’s breeding program has helped bring the species back from the brink.
Three nonbreeding red wolves currently live at the zoo, including two that arrived in January: Juno, Bronto and River. Bronto has a rare genetic condition that renders him infertile, so he serves as a companion to the two females.
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