Trevor Zoo to build red wolf breeding facility

MILLBROOK — The Trevor Zoo at Millbrook School has been awarded a Recovery Challenge Grant so it can build a new red wolf breeding facility. Red wolves are one of the most critically endangered species in the world. With populations once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, there are now less than 250 red wolves left, with most of them in Associations of Zoos and Aquarium (AZA) facilities like the Trevor Zoo. Mexican wolves, and gray or timber wolves, are also endangered.

Interest at the Trevor Zoo in wolf conservation started in the late 1990s. An experiment at that time consisted of breeding wolves in the zoo, then sending them to North Carolina and Tennessee to be released in the wild. The experiment failed due to lack of cooperation among local governments and others, as most of the wolves were shot or run over.

The zoo currently has two red wolves. Luna, who had her last litter of wolves there in the spring of 2012, is now too old to reproduce. One of the six pups from that litter, Clifford, who is blind, is still at the Trevor Zoo. Some wolves inherit a gene that causes blindness. Two of Clifford’s siblings were sent to live in the World Reserve Wolf Sanctuary in Salem, N.Y. 

The breeding habitat, which will be built over the winter, will cost $38,000; the grant will pay for half of that, $19,000. Much of the money will go toward fencing, which will be done by  Adams Fencing out of Poughkeepsie. After completion of the habitat, the zoo will acquire a pair of breeding wolves. 

Construction on the building has already begun; it’s going slowly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations are still needed and welcome. Aside from the grant and donations, the remainder of the cost will come out of the zoo’s budget.

Wolves are a keystone species; they are needed to balance the ecosystem as they keep the population of grazing animals down. Grazing animals eat a lot of vegetation around watering areas. This can actually, over time, change the course of how rivers flow, and change the grasses and vegetation that depend on river banks to flourish. 

Once red wolves were plentiful, with more than hundreds of thousands of wolves roaming areas from Key West, Fla., to New York State, west to Oklahoma. As land was settled and farmed, wolves became a nuisance and were killed off in large numbers. They also lost much of the habitat that kept them safe and able to breed. Today there are fewer than nine red wolves reportedly left in the wild. 

The Recovery Challenge Grant was established to enhance and increase partnerships with agencies and organizations implementing high priority recovery actions for federally listed endangered and threatened species, and in particular for genetically-sound breeding, rearing and reintroduction programs. 

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 authorizes the use of federal financial assistance to encourage states and other interested parties to develop and maintain conservation programs to safeguard the nation’s heritage in fish, wildlife and plants for the benefit of all citizens.

The work on the breeding habitat will continue throughout the winter, and hopefully spring will bring a pair of adult breeding wolves to make use of it. 

The work to bring back the red wolf population is long, arduous and expensive, but the balance of the ecosystem is dependent on every species being allowed to do its part. Trevor Zoo is doing its part to help make that happen. 

At this time, people can visit the zoo in limited numbers or check it out online at www.millbrook.org/trevor-zoo-home or  live on Facebook and YouTube. 

For more information, call 845-677-3704.