Two red wolves have joined the pack at the Chattanooga Nature Center, bringing the population to seven.
“Seeing endangered red wolves up close helps people realize how magnificent these animals are,” said Dr. Jean Lomino, the center’s executive director. “It makes the whole issue of saving species much more real and personal, especially when we understand that the red wolf lived and thrived right here in our valley not that many years ago.”
The wolves, both males, were born around the first of April, 2009, at the Sandy Ridge Breeding Facility at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. The date is approximate because the area is home to many red wolves and that is the date the pups were found, according to Nature Center wildlife curator Tish Gailmard.
A third pup in the litter was killed before it could be taken from the den, she said. And one of the new males is sporting a shorter tail, something that happened for an undetermined reason when he was a baby, Ms. Gailmard said.