El Paso Zoo Gets 5 Mexican Gray Wolves From Phoenix Zoo

I love zoos. If I'm in a new city, I try to make it a point to check out the local zoo. If I have time of course. And no, I don't believe the whole "but they're locked up such small cages, it's so cruel" garbage. While that might be true in some cases, there are a lot of species out there that would be extinct if zoos had preserved them. Are zoos flawed? Absolutely, and those flaws need to be worked on to better accommodate the animals.

It just so happens the Mexican gray wolf is one of those endangered animals. The Phoenix Zoo is now shipping 5 of their 8 Mexican gray wolves to the El Paso Zoo. The move is a part of a cooperative breeding program between the Association of Zoos and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wolf Recovery Plan. Two of the wolves are 4 years old, Tulio and Tazanna, with the other three being their male pups. The three wolves remaining in the Phoenix are Tulio and Tazanna's female pups. The goal is to have Tulio and Tazanna breed again to help with the struggling population.

El Paso Zoo director, Joe Montisano said:

The family is exploring and getting used to their new habitat. They have been a welcome addition here and we are very excited to have the family at the zoo.

Mexican gray wolves have been on the endangered list since 1976 and as of 2017, 143 Mexican wolves are living out in the wild, while there are 240 in captive breeding programs.