Ernesta the Beauty!

Mexican gray wolf "Ernesta" is on her way to becoming a wild loba! 

By: N Gilbert

Only 58 Mexican gray wolves in the wild in the Southwest; wildlife officials hope Ernesta will add to the population. She may have not been born free, but Ernesta, a 4-year-old Mexican gray wolf from Brookfield Zoo, might be able to live out the rest of her life roaming the wilds of New Mexico.

Ernesta was transferred from the west suburban zoo to the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility near Socorro, N.M., on Oct. 27 and is now attending "wolf boot camp" with two other male wolves that arrived when she did. The goal is to prepare them for release into the wild as part of an effort to increase the wolf population in the area.

"She is doing well (in her enclosure) and is adapting with the other wolves," said Maggie Dwire, a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "She doesn't like to be around people, but that is a good quality for a wolf in the recovery program."

There are only 58 Mexican gray wolves living in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona, but there are 283 living at 52 zoos and other institutions across the United States. Most of the wolves in the wild are second- and third-generation animals that are descendants of wolves that were released from the Sevilleta facility, according to Tom Buckley, public affairs specialist for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Mexican gray wolf population in the Southwest had been dwindling throughout the 20th century as human settlement and hunting intensified across in the area. The Fish and Wildlife Service first listed the species as endangered in 1976. The Mexican gray wolf is the southernmost-living, rarest and most genetically distinct subspecies of gray wolf in North America.

Dwire said Ernesta and the two male wolves are being kept in a large fenced-in area that mimics the high desert landscape that surrounds it. There are about a dozen wolves at Sevilleta.

"The goal for her is to accept one of the males as her mate," Dwire said. "If she gets pregnant, she may be released with her mate in spring, but we might also decide to wait until late summer. There are a lot of factors that must be taken into account."

Dwire said Ernesta and her mate would stake out a territory of their own in the spring to raise their pups. Late summer, however, is also a good time for Ernesta and her mate to be released because it's calving season for elk, a main food source for the wolves, wildlife officials said.

Dwire said there are seven separate wolf enclosures at the site, which is located in an isolated canyon area of the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. She said even wildlife officials visit the wolves only about every five days to give them food and water.

"The idea is to get them to adapt to the environment without people," Dwire said.

Ernesta was born in 2008 at a wolf facility in Missouri and came with her three brothers and four sisters to Brookfield Zoo in 2010. Amy Roberts, mammal curator at Brookfield, said Ernesta was a good candidate for release because she is a confident wolf and one who doesn't care for people.

"We observed her for years and after lengthy discussion decided to give her a chance," Roberts said.

Roberts said Ernesta spent her last night at the zoo with several of her siblings in a confined area to keep her comfortable. In the morning, she was put into a crate and transported to a waiting aircraft at Clow International Airport in Bolingbrook.

The LightHawk airplane organization, which uses volunteer pilots for environmental objectives, then loaded the crate onto the aircraft before heading to Missouri to pick up the two male wolves. The flight then continued on to New Mexico.

Roberts said the transport of the wolves went very well.

"We covered the crates with a tarp to help them relax," Robert said. "There were no problems."

Dwire said the wolf facility doesn't focus much on training wolves to hunt for prey.

"Hunting is part of their DNA. so they usually catch on fast," Dwire said. "It can actually be very dangerous to put a panicking deer or elk in an enclosure because they could hurt the wolves."

She said the wolves eat elk, deer and smaller animals such as rabbits. The facility is now feeding the wolves with roadkill, but Dwire said they also try to teach the wolves not to eat cattle.

"We do something called conditioned taste aversion," Dwire said. "We give them beef but put a chemical in it to make them feel a little sick. In turn, they don't want to eat beef, and they begin to hate the stuff."

Roberts said it's exciting that wolves are living in the Southwest again.

"They are a benefit to the overall ecosystem there," Roberts said. "Wolves keep the population of grazing animals down, which can help create a more diverse and healthy landscape. I also think they are a symbol of wildness."

Via Chicago Tribune.

The Big Bad Wolf Myth!

Who's Afraid of the Big, Lovable Wolf: the stereotype and the hard facts of the world's first canine.

By: N Gilbert

Wiki Files:
The gray wolf or grey wolf (Canis lupus) is a species of canid native to the wilderness and remote areas of North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. It is the largest member of its family, with males averaging 43–45 kg (95–99 lb), and females 36–38.5 kg (79–85 lb).[2] It is similar in general appearance and proportions to a German shepherd,[3] or sled dog, but has a larger head, narrower chest, longer legs, straighter tail and bigger paws.[4] Its winter fur is long and bushy, and is usually mottled gray in color, though it can range from nearly pure white, red, or brown to black


The wolf has been demonized throughout North American history. Here are some facts about wolves, their dens, packs and eating habits.

The poor wolf has been demonized in North America ever since the first settlers started ranching and providing a handy food source for the native wolf pack. Actually, the wolf is not a brave hunter and attacks only the young and the sick in a herd. Through a combination of misunderstanding and vengeance, most native wolf populations have been devastated and decimated to the point where the species is now endangered. Only in North Western Canada and a few northwestern states is there a remnant of a sustainable wolf population. Of course, wolves eat deer and so there is a competition between wolves and human hunters for access to that resource. We can eat whatever we want, but the wolf eats what it can find.
The wolf is carnivorous and is the largest of all of the wild dogs, which includes coyotes and foxes. There are different subspecies of wolf but they are all similar physically and behaviorally. Interbreeding is common between the subspecies and their distinctive differences become blurred in the mix. Besides the gray wolf there is the red wolf, found in the southeastern United States and the Abyssinian wolf, native to Ethiopia. There are five subspecies of the gray wolf in North America: The Mexican (lobo), Great Plains (buffalo), Rocky Mountain (or Mackenzie valley), The Eastern Timber and the Arctic.
The wolf's food preference is for deer, moose, elk, caribou, bison, sheep and mountain goats. Beaver and rabbit are a secondary source of food and occasionally birds or even smaller mammals will be eaten. A wolf can live on two and a half pounds of food per day and one has been known to eat over 22 pounds at one meal. In Minnesota, wolves kill the equivalent of 15 to 18 deer each per every year. No wonder hunters do not like wolves - it takes away from killing a helpless animal only for a trophy whereas the wolf kills to eat!

Male wolves weigh from 70 to 115 lbs. The females are usually 10 to 15 pounds lighter. Wolves average 26 to 32 inches tall at the shoulder and measure 57 to 76 inches in length. The wolf has a wide range of size, shape and color. Wolves are larger in the northwestern United States, Canada, and Alaska. They have a long and bushy tail, which is usually carried down or straight out. The rounded ears stand erect and are about 2 inches long.

Wolves' chests are narrow and protrude and their front legs are distinguishable by the inward bend of the elbows and the paws that face outwards from their body. Wolves' legs are longer than the legs of other dogs. Wolf color ranges from white to shades of black, brown and gray. The coat is a thick layer of soft and fine fur topped by long hair that gives the coat its color. The hair can be as long as 6 to 7 inches in the mane. Wolves can raise and lower this hair and use it to communicate with other wolves. The hair on the mane and at the end of the tail is usually darker than the rest. Wolves appear thinner in summer because their coat thins out. Wolves have an average life span of six to eight years in the wild and can live for 16 years in captivity.

Wolves travel long distances in the course of a day. It is not unusual for wolves to travel 20 miles in a 24-hour period. They cover the distance at a trot. If you are trying to track a wolf, the front paws are larger than the rear feet and the toes are spread out more. Their unique stride causes the hind foot to often land in the print made by the front foot on the same side. Wolf tracks are similar to coyote and dog tracks. Mountain lion tracks are often mistaken for wolf tracks.

Wolves howl, bark, whimper, and growl. They howl to greet one another, announce their location, define their territory, and call the pack together Wolves have a variety of communication tools including scent, vocalization, visual displays, postures and rituals. Wolves sometimes bark if their den is disturbed of if they are surprised. The howl of a wolf is described as deep and mournful. The pitch is constant or, if it varies, does so smoothly. A howling session by one lone wolf lasts about 35 seconds, and the animal will howl several times. When a pack is howling, one wolf will start and one or more others will join in. Most wolf howls can be heard for almost a mile in the woods.

Wolf dens are always located near water, dug into well-drained soil on a slope facing south. They can be under a boulder, tree roots, or in banks or hollow logs. Wolves will use and enlarge coyote or fox dens. The entrances are about 18 inches in diameter. There is a passageway, which is 4 to 17 feet long with a chamber approximately 18"H by 48"W by 41"Deep. There is no bedding is in the den. A well-used den will have bones scattered about and well-worn trails should lead from it. Dens are often used for several years.

Wolves usually live in packs of adult parents (the alpha pair) and their offspring of the last few years. The adult parents are not usually related and other wolves may join the pack. A pack has from six to eight wolves, but in Alaska and northwestern Canada packs can have over 30 members. A pack normally has only one litter of pups each spring, only one female gives birth. In areas where prey is abundant more than one female will give birth in each pack. An average litter size is six. Litters of pups are born in April through June and they emerge from the den at about one month of age. Wolf pups vary greatly in size. By August, the pups weigh about 40 lbs. or the size of a coyote. They are distinguishable from coyotes by their puppy features: large feet, long legs, blunt nose, and short tail. The feet are full grown by late July.

There are many petitions online to help save the wolves. There are also some sanctuaries throughout the United States where you can go to visit wolves in a natural habitat. Remember, the wolves were the start of the dog, they deserve to live just as all the rest of them do, please help to save the wolves!! ♥