‘Critically endangered’ wolves are born at NC Zoo. Watch tiny pups get their check-up

A group of “critically endangered” wolves were born at the North Carolina Zoo — and video shows the tiny creatures getting their check-up.

One of the newborns — about the length of a human hand — can be seen getting its mouth examined just a day after coming into the world.

In addition to being adorable, the red wolves in the video shared May 9 play an important role in the survival of their species.

Red wolves once lived across much of the Eastern and Southern United States. But in the early 1900s, changes to their habitats and “intensive predator control programs” led to significant declines in population, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The species was reintroduced to Eastern North Carolina about 35 years ago, with some since shot or hit by cars in the wild. To help bolster the “critically endangered” population, the zoo said it has one of the nation’s largest breeding programs.

“To save the last remaining American red wolves, a captive breeding program was initiated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service at the Point Defiance Zoo in Washington State,” officials wrote on their website. “The entire American red wolf population alive today, consisting of about 230 wolves in captivity and about 30 wolves in the wild, originated from this program founded with only 14 individuals.”

As part of an effort called Red Wolf SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction), the North Carolina Zoo said it welcomed two separate litters of pups in recent weeks.

Three of the pups — all males — were “born behind the scenes” to parents Marsh and Roan on April 17. Then about a week later, Denali and May welcomed six babies, “three males and three females,” the zoo told McClatchy News in an email.

While the public won’t be able to see the newborn animals at the wolf exhibit, the wildlife center plans to use social media to update people on their progress. The first post came May 9, when officials took to Twitter to say they identified and weighed each new wolf.

“During their 24-hour checkup, the pups are visually checked to ensure they appear healthy and hydrated,” the zoo wrote. “They are checked for heart murmurs and a cleft palate to ensure they have the suckle reflex so they can nurse properly.”

The small animals, which were captured on camera snuggling together on their check-up day, are expected to have health evaluations every two weeks. Eventually, the wolves can grow to reach 80 pounds.

The zoo in Asheboro, roughly 70 miles west of Raleigh, said the babies hadn’t been named as of May 10.

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