RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine announced the birth of three new critically endangered red wolves.
“Howlelujah!” the College of Veterinary Medicine said on social media Sunday.
The two female and one male pups were born last weekend — gaining weight and showing no signs of abnormalities, officials said.
Vets said they are “euphoric” that the new wolf additions to the N.C. State pack are thriving. N.C. State faculty, clinicians and students who care for the Wolfpack’s red wolf pack.
Red wolves had been a top predator across the Southeast but were headed for extinction in the 1970s before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured 14 and created a captive breeding and release program. About 250 red wolves currently are under human care at 41 partner facilities.
Fewer than 30 red wolves live in the wild, all inside the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the coast of North Carolina.
Just hours away, the N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine “plays a vital role in the federal Red Wolf Recovery Program,” a news release Sunday said.
N.C. State has been involved in the Red Wolf Recovery Program since first receiving wolves in 2001.
So far, 2024 has been a fruitful year for red wolves, the news release said.
In April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported an unusually large litter of eight puppies born in the wild at the refuge in North Carolina. The average litter for red wolves is four to six pups.
The three new red wolves were born from the breeding pair Penny and Jewell.
In addition to Penny and Jewell, NC State’s adult red wolf pack members are Boone, Oak’s father, and another breeding pair, Emerald and Waya. The breeding season lasts into June.