Wolf pups born at a captive breeding facility will arrive at the International Wolf Center in May. They will be available for public viewing around Memorial Day.

This summer, visitors to the International Wolf Center in Ely may see young wolf pups that are joining the “ambassador pack” the center maintains as part of its educational effort. The pups are expected to be born in late April and will be available for public viewing around Memorial Day.  They can be seen earlier by web cam at the center’s web site, www.wolf.org.

The center adds two to three pups to the exhibit about every four years. This allows the pack to be socially cohesive, but not to age so much that adding new pups is stressful to the older wolves.  The ambassador wolves help the center teach about wolves, their relationship to wild lands, and the role of humans in their future. 

Live wolves have been exhibited at the Center since 1989. Today the pack consists of Grizzer and Maya, great plains subspecies born in 2004, and Shadow and Malik, arctic subspecies wolves born in 2000.  Two older animals, Lakota and Mackenzie, also great plains subspecies born in 1993, are members of the retired pack, housed separately.

The ambassador wolves are neutered or spayed, so pups will be obtained from the Wildlife Science Center (WSC) in Forest Lake. The WSC only breeds its wolves upon request from other professional facilities and has strict standards for pup placement and care. Only captive-born animals are used for breeding.

The center will begin caring for the pups at 12 to 14 days of age so they can be socialized to the sights and sounds of their exhibit area and to the Center’s wolf care staff, who provide daily physical check-ups.  Through the Center’s “nanny program,” a limited number of individuals can participate in a unique wolf seminar, caring for the young pups and learning about behavioral development while maximizing the pups’ socialization.

Two disease risks are Canine Parvovirus and Canine Coronavirus, which can be spread by people who have contact, sometimes unknowingly, with infected dogs.  For this reason, the pups will be only available for public viewing after they are old enough to have their inoculations, anticipated to be around Memorial Day.