Endangered Mexican wolf pups born at Brookfield Zoo Chicago begin journey back to the wild

In this morning’s Good News Guarantee, volunteer pilots are keeping animals we know and love from becoming extinct, and their mission begins at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. 

They are tiny but mighty. Seven Mexican wolf pups, born at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, are on a journey into the wild.

"The Mexican wolf was actually extinct in the wild until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service partnered with a number of organizations on an active re-introduction program to work to put wolves back into the habitat that they were exterminated from," said Brookfield Zoo Chicago President and CEO Dr. Mike Adkesson.

The wolf pups are on a plane chartered by the nonprofit Lighthawk. For 45 years, it has enhanced conservation through aviation.

"We're working very hard to preserve what we've got for generations to come. We work with endangered species. Extinct is forever, once they’re gone, they’re gone," said Jim Becker, Lighthawk CEO.

Brookfield Zoo Chicago is part of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program, a multi-agency effort to bring the species back. Each year, Mexican wolf pups born in accredited zoos are transported into the wild and placed with a female that has just given birth to be cared for alongside her own. It’s a very delicate process.

"We are so thankful that this organization was able to partner with us to move wolf pups that were born here at Brookfield Zoo, back out to join a pack in the wild, where we're actively looking to conserve Mexican gray wolves in their natural habitats in Arizona and New Mexico," Adkesson said.

With the help of 250 volunteer pilots, Lighthawk transports adult Mexican, gray and red wolves to help diversify the wolf population, in addition to transporting those babies. 

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