July 18, 2025

In late June, the Museum’s Animal Care Team and veterinary staff from the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine conducted the Red Wolf pups’ eight-week physical. Here’s a look at that most recent check-up!

Catch-up, the process of safely rounding up animals for medical or transfer purposes, looks a little different at this point in the pups’ development. Our team goes into the habitat and carefully pulls the pups out of the den one by one. The trio has long outgrown the clear plastic bin used in the first pup check, graduating now to their very own crates for transport into the habitat’s side enclosure.

Once brought to the side enclosure, the first order of business is measuring and recording the pups’ weights (minus the weight of the crate itself).

Next up, placing and registering the pups’ microchips. This technology helps us correctly identify which wolf is which, while also acting as an important tool for conservation research and management.

Each crate is then marked with the respective pup’s studbook number.

Finally identified, the full physical exams begin and the trio take turns moving through the stations. By the end of the rotation, the pups have received external examinations, their first vaccines,  and their second doses of dewormer. All three brothers were given perfect body condition scores and recorded vitals within normal limits.

Then it’s a group photo for good measure (figuratively and literally)…

And it’s back to the den, safe and sound.

That’s all for now, but stay tuned for more from the wolf yard!