THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504200480
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ASHEVILLE LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Eyes closed and whimpering in the morning sunlight, the first red wolf pup born at the Western North Carolina Nature Center got a checkup.
Weston Utter, the Asheville center's curator of animal collections, fed the female pup an antibiotic and rubbed an ointment on her tender paws. The newborn's parents watched warily from the opposite end of the enclosure.
``She's doubled her weight in a week,'' Utter said Tuesday after the brownish-black pup tipped the scales at 2 pounds.
The pup's birth April 10 is a first for the center, which has housed a red wolf couple since 1992. The pup's parents are on loan to the center as part of a federal recovery and captive breeding program.
In about eight months, the pup will be returned to the program, and a committee will decide where she will be taken. She could be released into the wild under the program.
Red wolves have been extinct in the wild since 1980. The wolves are a federally protected species and a recovery program in North Carolina has set wolves free in eastern North Carolina. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park plans to release three family groups possibly as early as next month.
``We're just elated. This is probably one of the most incredible events in the center's history,'' center director Annette Wise said.
The center kept the pup's birth to themselves to allow the wolves to get adjusted to the family addition. A male pup born with the female died shortly after birth.
It could be several weeks before the pup ventures out of the shelter the wolves use as a den, Utter said. As the pup matures, the center may set up specific times for visitors to see her. by CNB