The Arizona Game and Fish Department says it has radio collared several wolf pups that were born in captivity and added to wild packs, and that field studies show its program for the endangered Mexican gray wolf is working.
Last spring, the Arizona Game and Fish Department added 20 wolf pups to wild packs to help improve genetic diversity.
It’s impossible to tell by looking which pups were born in captivity, but each captive pup has a microchip, and in field surveys, the department recently found seven of the released wolves.
"That’s a big deal. That’s a big number, and again, helps demonstrate just how successful fostering is," said Jim DeVos, a biologist with Game and Fish.
The Mexican wolves were nearly extinct, but in the last couple of decades, they have been reintroduced. A recent count showed 163 wolves in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico.
