NEW Zoo of Brown County, WI

Rufus, The Red Wolf Arrives!

The NEW Zoo is extremely pleased to announce the arrival of “Rufus”, a highly endangered male red wolf.

Rufus hails from the Wild Canid Center in St. Louis, MO having made the trip to his new homestead on Saturday, December 8th. He will be joined shortly by another female red wolf coming to the NEW Zoo from Tacoma Washington within the next week or two. Both animals are part of a very important AZA Species Survival Program (SSP) designed to help ensure the survival of selected wildlife species. It is both the NEW Zoo’s as well as the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s hope that Rufus and his new mate will breed and continue in efforts to save their species from extinction.

The NEW Zoo is proud to be one of only 38 zoos and nature centers in 21 states and the District of Columbia now cooperating in a national red wolf breeding program. As such, the zoo will participate as a valuable partner in efforts to restore the red wolf population. There are only 186 captive red wolves in the world with a total population in the wild estimated at no more than 133 animals.

Find out more about the Red Wolf - Red Wolf Fact Sheet (50kb PDF)

Published: December 11th, 2007