Tanamara and Santa Ana, a Ghost Ranch lineage Mexican gray wolf that had never reproduced, were not expected to breed, due to Santa Ana’s advanced age and poor health. However, we were hopeful that they might surprise us. Much to everyone’s delight, Tanamara did get pregnant and gave birth to two females and one male on April 22, 2001. The male and one female did not survive leaving Anna, a lone female, to be hand-raised by the Wild Canid Center staff. Anna is considered one of the most genetically valuable wolves in the Mexican gray wolf recovery program. She was named Anna, after her father, who passed away on July 26, 2001. She had her first breeding opportunity in 2003 with her first mate, Prietito, an experienced male. Together they successfully reared eight pups and went on to breed in 2004 producing ten more pups. In 2005 Anna and her new mate, Dude produced a litter of 12 puppies; the largest litter ever recorded in this species. It is not surprising that a few of the pups were lost in the first few days. Five males and four females survived and thrived. Anna has successfully contributed to the Mexican gray wolf population by producing more than 40 pups, one of which has been successfully released into the wild.

Nagual’s name is Aztec and means “manifestation of spirit and knowledge.” This handsome Mexican gray wolf, was born May 4, 2005 as a result of one of the first ever successful artificial inseminations in Mexican gray wolves.

After his mother, Nakomis, had been inseminated with semen from a Mexican gray wolf named Dude, she was paired with Laredo, a two-year-old male, to serve as a surrogate father to her litter of four puppies. In the fall of 2005, Laredo left the Center to be released into the wild and a year later, Nagual’s three female siblings went to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas.

Nagual and his mother Nakomis continued to live together here at the Center until the fall of 2007, when it was discovered that Nakomis had developed a large aggressive growth. Since the growth was malignant and inoperable, the only humane option was to euthanize Nakomis.

Nagual has adjusted to life without his mother and in fact topped the scales this year as our largest male Mexican gray wolf weighing in at 86 pounds. Nagual carries on his mother’s legacy through his wildness and strength and looks forward to bone day just as much as Nakomis did.

Picaron , a Ghost Ranch x McBride cross Mexican gray wolf was born on May 3, 1998 at Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In January of 2002, Picaron came to the Wild Canid Center after living at three other facilities in succession. Picaron has had a history of being a very dominant male towards other males as well as towards his mates. This made it difficult to place him appropriately with other wolves. He was transferred to the Wild Canid Center for behavioral and reproductive evaluation and to hopefully become a successful parent. After evaluation, he was paired with Tanamara, a female born and raised at the Wild Canid Center. Tanamara proved to be the perfect match for Picaron, our largest male wolf. Since their pairing in 2003, the two have successfully produced and raised 14 pups.  These pups, now adults, have since been transferred to other facilities.

On Tuesday, January 13, 2009, Tanamara did not wake up from anesthetic after a routine veterinary procedure. At the first sign of trauma, the zoo vets and WCC staff jumped in and did everything they could to save her; unfortunately that just was not enough. Necropsy results indicate that Tanamara passed away due to a perforation of her small intestines by foreign material she ingested.

Tanamara was born at the Wild Canid Center and lived out a wonderful, fulfilling ten years here. Tanamara was an excellent mate to Picaron and a wonderful mother to her many offspring.

Picaron seems to have adjusted to life without his mate.  He enjoys patrolling his enclosure and looks forward to bone day.  At the 2009 Mexican gray wolf Species Survival Plan meeting we hope to be able to pair Picaron for breeding or companionship.

On May 7, 2008 Alano celebrated his 16th birthday. Sixteen years is an almost unheard of life even in captivity. Alano was the oldest wolf in the Mexican wolf captive population. Sadly on May 11 th Alano began to have trouble walking on his “good” front legs; he had long had difficulty with his rear legs. On May 12, 2008 just hours after morning medication, he was found lying next to his pond unable to get up. Senior staff was forced to make the difficult decision to euthanize Alano. He is greatly missed by the Wild Canid Center staff, volunteers and most of all, his pack.

Frijole and her son Perkins still live together in a large enclosure where they enjoy patrolling the borders of their territory.  Frijole enjoys naps in the sun and looks forward to bone day.

Mischa, a female maned wolf, was born on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2005 at the Conservation and Research Center at Washington D.C.’s National Zoo. Mischa came to the Wild Canid Center in the fall of 2006 to be paired with Keegan because Mischa’s genetics are very important and Keegan was a proven father. Keegan’s calmer disposition and the seclusion of our enclosures made the Wild Canid Center an ideal new home for Mischa.

On December 24, 2007, Keegan passed away leaving Mischa without a mate. The maned wolf SSP decided that Mischa would be paired up with Santana, a yearling from Texas.

Santana was born on February 22, 2007, to wild caught parents making his genetics very valuable. He was transferred to the Wild Canid Center in June of 2008, to mate with Mischa. Santana may be young, but he is definitely in charge.

Despite Santana’s young age, the staff at the Wild Canid Center is hopeful that the pair will successfully breed. They have shown promising bonding behavior including grooming and sleeping near each other.

Rocky was born in the spring of 2001 in the Blue Range Recovery Area of New Mexico. This was the first litter to be born in the wild in New Mexico in decades. Due to a drought, the den that his wild-born mother chose did not have access to water. Through radio collar signals it was known that the mother had not left the den for days. When the United States Fish & Wildlife Service went in to check, Rocky’s sister was already dead, and Rocky was severely dehydrated and malnourished. Both mother and son were taken to the Albuquerque Zoo for immediate treatment and once stabilized, they were transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility. Eventually, Rocky was flown to the Wild Canid Center and placed in a foster situation to be reared by his great-grandfather. Due to his “rocky” start to life, he suffers from nutritional cataracts causing him to be completely blind in one however, this resilient boy does not let this challenge slow him down.

Abby was born April 11, 2004 and by September of 2004, she suffered a fracture to her rear left leg as a result of jumping off the top of den boxes. Abby had to have pins put in and a cast applied to her broken leg. She remained separate from her pack for a short time then two of her siblings joined her with similar injuries. Once healed, the three were returned to their pack. Over time Abby’s mother Anna decided that Abby was a threat to her alpha status and would often chase her, causing her limp to return. It was decided to move Abby out of the pack and in the spring of 2005, Rocky and Abby were paired for companionship. The two have proven to be good for each other and are a very active and curious pair.

The red wolf (Canis rufus), known as the “All -American” wolf, is a distinctly different species from the gray wolf. The range of the red wolf covered the southeastern United States, including the lower portions of Missouri and Illinois. By 1980, the red wolf was considered extinct in the wild with only 14 remaining and only a few remaining in captivity. The Wild Canid Center received its first pair of red wolves in 1981. In 1987, a Wild Canid Center-born red wolf was one of the first eight animals reintroduced into the wild in North Carolina. She was the first to reproduce successfully outside the captive breeding program. The red wolf release program has been successful for over 20 years. The howls of the red wolf can be heard at the Wild Canid Center celebrating the red wolf’s triumphant return to the wild.

The swift fox (Vulpes velox) received its common name from early Western settlers because of its speed and agility. Weighing four to six pounds, the swift fox is about the size of a house cat. This tiny, elusive fox historically ranged from central Alberta, Canada southward through the Great Plains to west-central Texas. During the last century, swift foxes have been eliminated from over two-thirds of their original range. The population in Canada has been listed as endangered and in the U.S. the population of the swift fox is restricted to a narrow north-south band cutting across Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. In lieu of the current federal listing under the Endangered Species Act, a coalition among representatives of the 10 states has formed a Swift Fox Conservation Team that has adopted a Conservation Strategy Plan. The Wild Canid Center’s pair of swift foxes are part of a breeding program to secure swift fox numbers in captivity and to supplement existing wild populations. In the winter of 2005 two of their offspring, born here, were transferred to Canada to participate in a release program.