ASHEBORO, N.C. — Three litters of American red wolves, which are critically endangered and number less than two dozen in the wild, have been born at the North Carolina Zoo, officials announced Monday.
The zoo said in a news release that the litters, which total 12 pups, were born over three days at the end of April. According to zoo officials, all the pups and their mothers are healthy and doing well.
The newest pups bring the total number of red wolves in the zoo’s breeding program to 36, making it the second-largest pack in the U.S. after Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, according to the North Carolina Zoo.
Zoo officials said only 15 to 20 red wolves remain in the wild, all in eastern North Carolina. They’re considered the most endangered canid in the world.