We’re excited to announce that three rare Mexican wolf pups have been born at the Endangered Wolf Center.

Two females and a male were born April 17, 2015, to female Mexican wolf Sibi and her mate Lazarus. This was the first birth of Mexican wolves at a managed breeding facility this year.

One of the webcams on our website shows the enclosure where Sibi, Lazarus and their pups live. Go to https://www.endangeredwolfcenter.org/webcams/ and click on the Mexican Wolf Camera, then keep watch over our newest pack.

Sibi (AF1266) was born in Mexico in April 2012; her arrival at the Endangered Wolf Center was part of an exchange of genetics between the United States and Mexico. She arrived here in November 2014 and was introduced to Lazarus in December. This is their first litter of pups. Lazarus (AM1177) was born in the wild.

Mexican wolves are among the most endangered wolves in the world, with only 110 left in the wild.

At one point, when efforts to save them started in the late 1970s, Mexican wolves were down to just five animals in the wild. When those five wolves were captured and brought into managed breeding facilities, the Mexican wolf was declared extinct in the wild in 1980.

The Endangered Wolf Center was founded in 1971 by Marlin Perkins, longtime host of TV’s “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” and former director of the Saint Louis Zoo, and his wife Carol. Since its founding, the Center has been a cornerstone of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mexican Wolf Recovery program, beginning with the first litter of Mexican wolves conceived and born in captivity in 1981. In total, 175 Mexican wolf pups have been born at the Center.

Mexican wolves are the smallest, southernmost and most genetically distinct subspecies of the gray wolf.