Wolf Pup Necropsy Confirms Canine Parvovirus
Laboratory analyses conducted at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin have confirmed the presence of the disease, canine parvovirus (CPV), in the Mexican wolf pup that died on August 24. CPV is a contagious, viral disease of domestic and wild canines that is often fatal in young animals.
On the morning of August 30, two more pups from this litter were found dead in their holding pen at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Their bodies have also been sent to the Madison facility for diagnostic necropsies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is taking extreme precautions to prevent the spread of this disease to other wolves at the Sevilleta facility.
These pups were members of the Pipestem Pack recently captured from the Apache National Forest in Arizona and transferred to Sevilleta in New Mexico where the pack is being held temporarily pending their return to the wild.
