The pack consisting of M584 and F624 is in the McKenna Park area. M583 and F562 are at Lilley Park. The wolves will stay in their nylon mesh, low impact temporary acclimation pens for up to two weeks. If they have not self-released by that time, they will be freed.
The wolves are radio collared and monitored closely using telemetry equipment. They will be supplementally fed until it is apparent that they are hunting on their own.
Both females are expected to give birth around April 19. "Once released we expect the wolves to settle down and den near their pen sites," said H. Dale Hall, the Southwest Regional Director for the Service. Wolves generally give birth to between four and six pups.
The wolf releases are part of an interagency program begun in 1998 to reintroduce the endangered Mexican wolves to a portion of their historic territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. "Before 1998 Mexican wolves only existed in captive breeding facilities," said Hall. "The Mexican wolf recovery program is the most difficult and complex wolf reintroduction the Service has undertaken. We
