 Okay, welcome everyone. We are live streaming, hopefully on Facebook, which it looks like we are. And we're going to give one more minute for a couple of people to join us on zoom thank you very much for taking some time out of your Sunday afternoon to join us for this really really cool program. We're the capper of our Earth week programming, and we're really really appreciative to everyone who's participated up until now, and those who have joined us for some of our other programs I hope you found it informative and helpful. It's certainly an issue that I know that many people are concerned about. And we think you're going to find today's program to be a lot of fun and, and as you can see from some of the images on the screen already. I'm going to get right to it. I just want to remind people that if you are logged in to ask a question the q amp a. It's live streaming so if you have a question you'd like to ask. I, please post it and I will certainly relay it to Regan whom I'm going to introduce in a moment. I want to remind everyone that we are to the Bedford Playhouse and the Wolf Conservation Center are two organizations that rely on the support of the community. So, we asked that if you enjoy this program and you'd like us to keep doing more things like it. The Bedford Playhouse is going to be reopening to the public at the end of May. And you consider going to our respective websites and considering making a contribution of any amount, every amount is appreciated and very very helpful to us. And so with that, I'm going to introduce Regan Downey from the Wolf Conservation Center who's going to show you some really incredible animals. Hey, great thanks so much for the introduction and thank you to everyone for joining us today. My name is Regan Downey and I'm the director of education here at the Wolf Conservation Center. We are located in South Salem, New York so very close to most of you. I apologize we have a lot of flies out in full force now that spring is here. But we are here with some of our wolves. The Wolf Conservation Center is currently home to 39 wolves. And here behind me we have our three ambassador wolves. And these ambassador wolves are here primarily as teachers. They are here to help us raise awareness for wolves and really encourage people to appreciate and respect wolves, rather than fear them. Unfortunately, a lot of people who visit our center or who are learning about wolves, they come into it with a lot of misunderstandings and they believe wolves are dangerous and wolves are scary. And that's actually not true. Wolves are very afraid of people and wolves are really great for the environment, which is why it's so fitting that we're participating in Earth Week. And through these ambassador wolves, through the work our organization does, we can hopefully make the world a safer place for wolves by promoting science based education and helping people connect to these really important predators. So the Wolf Conservation Center does have these three ambassador wolves, they are permanent residents at our facility so they will spend their entire lives here. But we actually have a total of 39 wolves that live on site. We have about 32 acres of land, and we have 15 critically endangered red wolves. There's only 10 red wolves known to remain in the wild. And we have 15 living at our center as part of two, as part of a federal recovery program to save these wolves and release them into the wild so they can begin to repopulate and really increase that wild population. And we also have 21 Mexican gray wolves that live on site as well for the exact same purpose, just for a different species. So the goal with those Mexican gray wolves is to be released into the wild as well. Now, we're going to see later on during the program if we can spot some of our red wolves and Mexican gray wolves and their spacious enclosures, but they're very shy, they're very elusive, much like wolves are in the wild. So they might not come out. But if they don't know worries, we actually have live streaming cameras and all of their enclosures. So if you were to visit our website, which is nywolf.org, you could actually watch all 39 of the wolves that live here, in the comfort of your couch on your phone or your computer, because these cameras stream 24 seven, and it's a great way to watch these wolves that otherwise are usually very challenging to see. But our ambassador wolves are super visible. So luckily we'll be able to see them and they can serve as placeholders or representatives for the other wolves that might not come out today during the program. Before I fully introduce you to these ambassador wolves. I just want to explain a bit more about how they came to live here. These wolves actually were born out west at a facility in captivity, and they're gray wolves. Now for anyone who's been following the news recently you'll know that gray wolves are no longer listed as a federally endangered species. If gray wolves are born in captivity, that's where they're going to remain they can't be released into the wild. And so when these wolves were born years ago, we thought if they can't live in the wild, let's have them come live here, they can have a really great safe life here, but they can also help educate and help inspire a global audience to take action on behalf of their wild counterparts. So that's why these wolves are here permanently. But again in being here and living their lives here, they have become superstars. They have huge followings of people around the world that like to watch them and see what they're doing. So without further ado, I'm going to move behind the camera, and I'm going to bring you guys closer so you can see these wonderful ambassador wolves that I've been talking about. So these are our three ambassador wolves, and you'll notice they're super excited. They're actually getting some snacks today during the program, which is why there's that excitement, and just that overall curiosity. But these three wolves are all siblings. This wolf right in front of us is Nikai. Nikai actually just celebrated his, he was born in 2014 he just celebrated his seventh birthday on April 13. And while some of you might be thinking seven isn't that old for wolves seven is actually really impressive, because in the wild their average lifespan is only and there's ever biting the camera of it. So their average lifespan in the wild is only about four to six years, but in centers like ours, they can live up to 15 or 16 years. Now, moving back away from us, towards the middle of her and jumping up on that rock. That's a layover. A layover is the only female in this group. So she is the sister living with her two brothers, and she just turned 10 on April 20. So she is another member of this ambassador wolf trio. And you'll notice she and Nikai look very similar in their appearance, but these are all gray wolves. Gray wolves are the most common or most wide ranging species of wolf in the world, but they don't actually have to be gray in color. Gray wolves can be black, brown, white, tan, or even a mix of many different colors, and they all have a slightly different appearance. So they do look very unique, even though sometimes to someone who's just meeting a wolf, they can look very, very similar, but it's actually quite easy to tell a layover and Nikai apart. And then we have Zephyr, the older brother in this enclosure. Zephyr is also 10 years old. He and Aleyua are litter mates, which means they were born to the same parents in the spring. And these wolves have really grown up together. They live together, they play together, they eat together, although sometimes they're a bit aggressive when they eat. So they don't always get along so well when food is involved. But they live in this large enclosure on their own, and it is built to really mimic the wild environment in which they would be found. So you'll notice there's not much that we do in terms of landscaping, but we do try to give these wolves things that would be found in their wild territory. Wolves are territorial by nature, and so they will actually mark out territories of varying size in the wild. A territory can be quite large, but it can also be smaller depending on food availability and also the overall populations of neighboring wolves. Typically, a territory will contain everything a wolf needs to survive, which would be food, shelter, and water. So the same things humans need. And you'll notice with these wolves, they do have a lot of different options for shelter. You'll notice a log tower in the middle of their enclosure, and that could serve as shelter. It serves as wonderful enrichment. The wolves can climb on top. In the summer, it's a great way for them to get a little suntan. They also have two dens, and these dens are made to look as though they are made of stone, but they are man-made. And the wolves can sleep inside those dens. So if we have really strong storms, especially in the spring and summer, when we start to get some of those hurricane winds and torrential downpours, the wolves often go inside those dens to stay nice and dry, but also to stay nice and safe. If the trees start to sway in the breeze, these dens can be a much safer alternative than staying outside. You'll notice they also have a pond set back in the middle of their enclosure, and this pond does serve as a water source. Kai especially likes to drink from the pond, but they do get fresh water in a water bucket, so they don't actually have to rely on this pond for water, but they also enjoy using the pond to swim and to stay cool. Many people are surprised to learn that wolves are excellent swimmers. They have really large paws that in the winter will act like snowshoes and allow them to balance on top of snow and ice. But in the summer, they're excellent swimming aids, and so wolves have actually been documented swimming very far in the wild. There's actually a group of wolves that live along the coastline in British Columbia, Canada, and they are nicknamed sea wolves or coastal wolves, because they actually live a marine lifestyle. They will eat a variety of marine life that wash up on the beaches, they catch salmon and seals, and they have been recorded swimming as well. In fact, one wolf actually swam over seven miles between islands along the coastline. So even though these ambassador wolves are not considered to be coastal wolves, we do see them swimming quite well and quite frequently in that pond, especially when it gets to be very, very warm in the summer. And this brings up a good point in terms of staying cool, because if you look at our ambassador wolves right now, you'll notice, again, they're very excited. They know they're getting snacks today, but you might be surprised at their size. Many people assume that wolves are very, very large. Some guesses about 200 pounds in terms of weight. And in fact, we see that wolves, gray wolves, especially like these ambassador wolves, usually only weigh about 80 to 120 pounds in size. But every winter, wolves will grow an undercoat, and an undercoat lets them live in very, very cold temperatures. In fact, when their undercoat is fully grown, wolves can live in temperatures below negative 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course, they don't want that undercoat to remain on the entire year because they would overheat in the summer months, even now. So they actually start to shed every spring. And if you get a very close look at these wolves, you'll notice their coat looks a little patchy. And that's because they're starting to shed. And as the days get longer and it gets darker later, wolves actually experience a hormonal shift, and they start to shed their undercoat. So within the next few weeks, these wolves will have a fully lost their winter coat, and they will be ready for much warmer temperatures in the summer. So that will help them stay cool as well in addition to utilizing their pond and going for a nice swim. Both these wolves have waited long enough for their snacks. These wolves are going to get some pork today. This was actually donated to us. We received donations from Whole Foods, local grocery stores, and butchers, even local residents whose freezers break and they have a lot of pre-packaged meat. They'll give us a call and see if they can drop it off for the wolves. And we usually say yes. It's a really great way to continue to support wolves in a really unique way by providing food for them. So these wolves are going to get their snack. And again, you'll notice they're extremely excited. Those tails are up in the air. They're going to start to jump and dance a little as well. And these snacks are our way of thanking them for the wonderful work they do in terms of educating others about wild wolves. You'll notice Nikai is jumping especially high. Wolves have very powerful legs. These legs allow them to, of course, hunt down preferred prey in the wild, but they also are excellent. In this case, they help them get some nice air as they're jumping up against the fence. And these wolves, as I mentioned, are getting some pork. So this is raw and it's been cut up into smaller pieces. This is nowhere near as much food as they would eat during a large meal, or even if they were living in the wild. But it is a great way to give them a small snack during a program, but also to help illustrate kind of their feeding patterns and behavior for visitors and viewers alike. When these wolves get their snacks, there's no right or wrong way to feed them. We just try to spread them out so they're not fighting over the exact same piece of meat. And sometimes they realize if they don't leave the fence, they don't have to work as hard to get the snacks, and they can get it right through the fence. This is some really excellent mouth eye coordination. These wolves are really great at catching food in their mouths as they're jumping up in the air. So this really illustrates just how athletic wolves are, which really is a requirement. Wolves have to be able to take care of themselves to find places to live, but also to hunt and to find food. So if a wolf is not able to move very quickly, they're going to have a really challenging time. Luckily, they'll have the support of their family wolves live in family groups called packs. So wolves that aren't quite as adept or skilled at hunting, certainly aren't left behind they're still provided for, but the stronger and quicker and more skilled a wolf is the easier chance they have at finding some food. And so that's it for their snacks. A little bit of tension. These wolves are very excited for snacks, aren't we all. And sometimes Nikai gets a little too close to Zephyr or Alewa, and there does get to be a bit of a disagreement, but they usually settle things very quickly. And now they're moving around looking for any pieces of food they might have missed. And unfortunately for them they did not miss any pieces of food they were able to find it all quite quickly. But this really highlights their excellent sense of smell. And Alewa is marking her territory for us right now. Wolves can actually smell prey about one and a half miles away. Their sense of smell is estimated to be 100 times better than ours. So these wolves are excellent at finding food that they might have missed, but also sniffing out prey as well. We often get asked what these wolves eat for larger meals. Do we give them life prey? And we don't. These wolves get larger meals that are about five to 10 pounds of food per wolf, but it's usually a whole chicken for each wolf, a whole turkey. And again, these are animals that have been donated to our organization from grocery stores and butchers and the light. But if these wolves were living in the wild, they would most likely only be eating about once a week on average. And while that might not sound like a lot, wolves can eat a lot of meat in one sitting. So even if they're only eating once a week, they might be eating upwards deer, moose, elk, bison. But because those animals are so large, it can be pretty challenging to catch that elk. They might eat as much as they can just in the event that they aren't able to find another meal quite as easily. We don't feed our ambassador wolves on this schedule because it can then be quite challenging to allow each of them to get a meal. But we do feed our red wolves and Mexican gray wolves once a week. And this is actually a way for you to support the wolf center as well. And it's quite easy to do. We actually feed our red wolves and Mexican gray wolves roadkill deer. Now, we're moving down to a lower kind of portion of our center just to get a nice view of a layowa who's resting in the shade. But individuals can actually let us know if they see roadkill deer, and we will go pick it up and bring it in. And that is then fed to our red wolves and Mexican gray wolves. So if you're ever driving in the car or even have a deer that passes away on your property, give us a call and we'll come pick it up. And it can then become food for the critically endangered wolves that call our center home. And that way they're eating the exact prey sources they would find in the wild. And it helps them prepare for that wildlife style. Now you'll notice a layowa is resting in the shade. And this is very common for wolves in the spring as we're transitioning between seasons. And these wolves are transitioning in terms of their coat as well. You'll find that they are kind of staying out of the sun. They're staying away from the flies. And these wolves did have a bit of a bonus this morning with our rainstorm that did cool things off quite a bit. So they're not quite as uncomfortable as they would be otherwise with these changing seasons. But we do still see that they prefer to rest and to stay as cool as possible. Now a layowa in this enclosure, as I mentioned earlier, she is a gray wolf and she is a wonderful representative for gray wolves that live out in the wild. New York State is not home to any wolves. And in fact, the last permanent wolf population in New York State was killed in the 1890s. And so for many people that visit our center or that support us locally, it can be very hard to imagine what a wolf looks like because they've never seen one before, unless they're going out west, looking for wolves or going up north into Canada. But wolves actually live all across the west. They live in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Gray wolves also live in Washington, Oregon, California, and then the Great Lakes states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. And a layowa looks very much like a wolf that you might see in those places. Now unfortunately, those wolves no longer have federal protections, which means it's up to the states where they live to decide if at all they are going to protect those wolves. And we see that for many they choose not to protect wolves, rather they choose to hunt them. And hunting wolves is something the Wolf Conservation Center opposes because there's no scientific reason to do it. Wolves do not pose threats to human safety. And so there's no need to harm wolves for that. Wolves are also very important for healthy ecosystems and environments. And even just looking at the beauty of this enclosure, the greenery, the vegetation. This is what you see when wolves are found in the wild as well. You see fully thriving ecosystems because of wolves, but also because of the other healthy animal populations in those areas. Wolves are what we call a keystone species, which means they have significant impacts on all other living things in an area, whether through direct or indirect effects. And one of the biggest effects of having wolves is that they prevent animals like deer and elk from over browsing and over grazing. Again, as residents of Westchester County, I think we are all aware of the impact deer can have on our surroundings. And we see that with wolves, they will help limit the deer numbers just to a healthier number. So we're not seeing this significant over browsing and over grazing. So another reason to really support wolves and support wolf recovery. We are going to move back towards our original viewing area, because before we head up to see if any of our red wolves and Mexican gray wolves are out. We are going to look at Zephyr, who is resting on top of his den. This den is a really great perch for these wolves a great vantage point, because they can see things that are much farther away. And we see this with wolves in the wild as well, although they would be using a more natural structure like a mountain or a plateau, but we do see Zephyr resting quite beautifully up on his den. Now, I am actually going to cross my fingers and hope that we can get Zephyr to howl for you during today's program. This can howl to communicate, to sing together, and they typically will howl with members of their family or wolves they spend more time with, or howls they recognize. So I'm going to hope that these wolves are feeling up to responding to my voice today. However, my howl can be quite loud. So I'm going to mute myself just for a few seconds while I try to get these wolves to howl. If I do start to howl back, I will unmute myself so you can hear them, but because my howl can be quite loud and I'm very close to the microphone, I don't want to hurt anyone's ears. So you'll see me go mute for just a moment, but don't worry, you're not missing anything. So you should have been able to hear Zephyr howling, he did get a bit distracted in front of us by these flies that we have in the spring. But Nikai and Aleya were also howling out of frame as well. And what's so wonderful about wolves and their howls is that every wolf actually has their own voice. So every howl sounds very unique, and it's easily identifiable to members of their family, but we can even tell which wolf is howling based on the sound of their howl. Scientists have been slowly trying to analyze wolf howls and really understand this very complex method of communication. And as a recent study actually found that wolves and their relatives across the world actually howl in over 21 different dialects. So howls are a very complex form of communication. They sound very different. And they're still really an area of wolves that we have yet to uncover much about. So it's very exciting new science and a new realm in which to really explore. Now with these wolves because they're so close to each other, they can see each other. These howls were probably not for any form of long distance communication as they might be in the wild. They were more a way for the wolves to sing together as a family. Howls are also thought to be kind of like social glue. They bring wolves closer together and really unite them. And we tend to see that happen with our wolves, our ambassador wolves, but also our red wolves and Mexican gray wolves as well. And speaking of our red wolves and Mexican gray wolves, we have those wolves that live very far back in our facility. Again, we're on 32 acres of land and the red wolves and Mexican gray wolves live at our center as part of programs that are called species survival plans. And these programs are run by both the Fish and Wildlife Service, but also the Association of zoos and aquariums. And the goal of these programs is to really save these animals from extinction. Facilities like ours provide enclosures for these wolves. We care for them. We give them food and water. But the ultimate goal is to release these wolves into the wild so they can repopulate their native range and perform those valuable ecological roles. But also so they can safely live with their families in the wild, which is where they're worthy of living. So with our red wolves and Mexican gray wolves that live at our center, these wolves live with their families. And they live in terms of their species who will actually see a red wolf laying down right now. So if we look back into this enclosure, you'll see a log tower. And to the right of the log tower. And again, this is quite challenging to see these enclosures are purposely kept very rugged in terms of their landscaping. These wolves feel as though they are fully wild. It also gives them places in which to hide if they feel uncomfortable. But you'll notice the wolf picking up her head. And I do apologize. I actually believe that might be the male. So I misspoke, but that is one of our red wolves. This enclosure is home to two red wolves, a male and a female. The male's name is tight and the female is lava. And these wolves are actually what's considered to be hopefully a breeding pair. I mentioned earlier that wolves live in their families, and a wolf family is very similar to a human family. There are parents and there are children. And Tike and lava don't have any children yet, but they are considered to be a pair that hopefully might have children. Red wolves are a critically endangered species. And there are currently only 10 known to remain in the wild. One of the ways in which we can save these red wolves is by having red wolves that live in captivity and centers like ours have pups and have families so the overall population of red wolves can grow. But ultimately, we want these wolves to live in the wild. The Wolf Conservation Center doesn't believe that wolves should be living in captivity if there's a place for them to live in the wild. Red wolves do have a place to live in the wild. They are currently found in the wild in North Carolina, primarily in two national wildlife refuges along the coastline. One of these wildlife refuges is the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and the neighboring wildlife refuge of Pococin Lakes. One of the red wolves are found in the wild. And Tike, who you'll see sleeping back more towards the off center right part of your screen. He actually has a cousin living in the wild who was released into the wild in 2020 in the early winter. And we're hopeful that eventually Tike might get the chance to live in the wild as well. But with these red wolves, they are not given snacks during programs, so they won't be getting any food during our program today. And this is really for two primary reasons. One, we don't want these wolves to associate people with food. We don't want to feed them like we fed the ambassador wolves. And then if they were released into the wild, I wouldn't want them to assume that seeing a person out for a hike meant that they were going to get food. But these wolves are also not given things like pork or domesticated animals that are used as livestock, because we don't want them to associate those animals with a natural food source. So instead, Tike and Lava are given roadkill deer, and they get this roadkill deer once a week to better mimic how often they would eat in the wild. And we simply place the carcass in their enclosure, we leave and Tike and Lava then approach and eat from that what they would like. And the same pattern is repeated the following week. Now, of course, we can't prevent other animals from getting into this enclosure. So these wolves will sometimes catch and kill raccoons and turkeys. But we do also give them that main primary source. So if they can't find anything on their own, they don't have to, they will be given that food once a week. Now, if we were to move away from this red wolf enclosure and start moving up towards our Mexican gray wolf enclosure, we could potentially see two of our Mexican gray wolves as well. Now, with the red wolf population, I had mentioned that there's only 10 left in the wild, and that is not a sustainable population, as I'm sure many of you are thinking. Unfortunately, the Fish and Wildlife Service, which is the federal agency that oversees these recovery programs. The Fish and Wildlife Service actually had not released any red wolves into the wild from 2014 to 2020. And so the population dropped drastically. But the Fish and Wildlife Service was also giving people permission to kill red wolves on private property. And we saw that this led to a significant drop in their population as well. Thankfully, through a series of court orders, the Fish and Wildlife Service had to stop giving people permission to kill red wolves. But they also need to resume releases of red wolves as well. And so that's how Tikes' cousin got the chance to live in the wild last year. Two additional red wolves were released into the wild this year, and we're hopeful that more red wolves will be released throughout the spring and summer again through a court order. And hopefully we can see some changes for red wolves. Now this enclosure is home to two Mexican gray wolves. And I don't see them right now, but again, you'll notice their enclosure is quite vast and very densely wooded as well. Again, by design, these wolves would be found in the woodlands of the Southwest. And so they would have very wooded territories in the wild as well. Mexican gray wolves are a subspecies of gray wolf. So they're kind of distant cousins of our ambassador wolves. And they are found in Arizona, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico. And they are the smallest and most genetically distinct subspecies of gray wolf. Now this enclosure is home to two, a male and a female. The male's name is Diego, and the female is Valentia. And unlike Tike and Lava, who will hopefully be welcoming pups together hopefully in just a few weeks, we are not expecting any pups from Diego and Valentia. Diego is 14, and he is the oldest Mexican gray wolf that we have at our center. And Valentia is much younger, and these wolves get along extremely well. They're quite loving and affectionate with one another, but they're just not going to have any pups together. So we do see that their family structure is slightly different from the other families that we have here. Now looking around their enclosure, you'll also notice some very interesting structures like these wooden brown boxes. And those wooden brown boxes are used for wolf health checks. Wolves are very susceptible to diseases that our dogs are susceptible to. And so we do give our wolves veterinary health checks every fall, and they are given vaccinations. We draw blood, we weigh them, and those wooden boxes are used to aid us in those health checks. And so they're permanently kept in the enclosures throughout the year. But other than that, these enclosures have the exact same features that our ambassador wolf enclosure had. So they have a log tower, and then they have various den structures to provide them with shelter. But as a reminder, these wolves also have live streaming cameras and their enclosure. And these are a great way to watch Mexican gray wolves, because these wolves are also quite endangered, and it's very challenging to see Mexican gray wolves in the wild. There are about 186 Mexican gray wolves living in the wild in the United States, and there's only about 30 to 35 or so living in northern Mexico. And while those numbers might not sound like a lot, and it's true, they're not, they are increasing, their population in the wild has grown each year. And to put it into perspective, in the late 1970s, early 1980s, there were only five Mexican gray wolves left in the wild in the entire world. So their population hovered on the actual edge of extinction. And thanks to humans and our recovery programs, we have been able to slowly build back this population. So a number of 186 is something to celebrate, but of course, also a number to improve on. And one way we improve on that number is by releasing Mexican gray wolves into the wild. The Wolf Conservation Center has released three adult Mexican gray wolves into the wild since we joined these recovery programs. But we've also released a puppy into the wild. So two years ago on April 26, we had a litter of Mexican wolf pups born at our center. And one of the pups, who we nicknamed Hope, was chosen to be placed with a family of wild wolves in Arizona through something called a cross foster. A cross foster is when captive born pups are placed with a family of wild wolves that has pups the same age and that wild family will adopt them and raise them as their own. And it's a wonderful way to release these wolves into the wild, give them the amazing opportunity to live as wild wolves, but also to really help boost the genetic diversity of these endangered populations in the wild. And so Hope, the Mexican gray wolf who was born here, was placed with the saffle pack in Arizona, and she was adopted, and she's now living as a fully wild wolf in Arizona, which is very exciting. It means she will never know what it's like to live in captivity. And we have more information about her story and her release, along with information about the releases of our three other Mexican gray wolves on our website. So those wolves can certainly be discussed more in depth as well. With the last few minutes that we have, I would of course like to give anyone an opportunity to ask any questions they might have about the wolves that we have on site, our recovery programs. So if you do have any questions, as mentioned earlier, please type them into the Q&A and we can, or the chat, I guess, I think both would have those options. And so feel free to type your questions, and then they can be voiced to us and we can quite happily answer those questions that you might have. Again, this is Dan. We actually have a couple of questions that have been submitted through the live stream. Okay, great. Go ahead. So you kind of touched on a couple of these subjects. I'm not sure if you can elaborate, but one question is, how often do you get new wolves and how long do they stay with you on average, especially the older ones. So that's a great question. Thank you to whoever asked. So we actually don't have a set schedule on which we receive wolves. But every summer, there are meetings of facilities that house red wolves and Mexican gray wolves. And this is a way to discuss the status of these populations, and also to map out the coming year in terms of where wolves will live, but also to discuss breeding opportunities as well. So if we do receive new wolves, it's usually in late fall or early winter, and most likely because these wolves have been paired with one of the wolves at our center for the upcoming breeding season, meaning that they're considered to be a good genetic match. Any pups that they would have would increase the diversity of the overall population in terms of genetics. So we would typically get wolves in at that time of year. However, we don't receive new wolves every year. We did not receive any new wolves in 2020, but some of our wolves did leave to go live at other facilities. And this can be either for breeding or for space. Some new facilities recently joined the Red Wolf species survival plan. And so some of our red wolves that just became adults were given the opportunity to go live at those facilities. So typically when wolves turn about two or three years old in the wild, you would see them disperse, or they would leave their natal packs, and they would set off to create families of their own. And so having wolves leave our center at that time is a natural kind of part of their timeline as to when they might leave their families as well. And then in terms of how long wolves stay with us, that depends on a variety of factors as well. Our ambassador wolves will stay at our center forever, they will never leave. But with some of our red wolves, they might stay here just for a short period of time, and then move elsewhere. So we have a Mexican Grey Wolf who came to live at our center in, I believe, 2016, and left just about a year and a half ago to go live at another facility so she was only with us for a few years. But we have some wolves that will most likely live here for the remainder of their lives. So Mexican Grey Wolf Diego, he came to live here in 2015 in the winter. December, December of 2015, and he is now 14. So he will most likely be with us for the remainder of his life, which we're very happy about. We are very fond of Mexican Grey Wolf Diego. And we are excited to see kind of what the future holds for him. So thank you for that question. It was very thoughtful. The next question is, can you repeat how many wolves you currently have now and what's what's the most you've ever had. Definitely. So we currently have 39 wolves. We have three ambassador gray wolves, 15 red wolves, and 21 Mexican Grey Wolves. And while that might sound like a lot, it's not our largest. We actually had over 50 wolves a few years ago. I believe our highest was 52. But that was mainly attributed to a very large pup year. In 2018, we had a total of 22 puppies born in four separate litters. And so our population skyrocketed very quickly. And as those wolves have now grown up, they've become adults. We do see some of those wolves start to leave for space reasons but also to have the opportunity to create families of their own as well. This question is about people who keep wolves as pets. What's what's the general consensus about people who domesticate wolves as household pets. Good idea, bad idea. So bad idea. In terms of domesticating wolves, it's already been done we have dogs. Dogs are very closely related genetically to wolves they share about 98% of their DNA. So any dog you adopt from a shelter is a very close relative to a wolf but perfectly legal to have and wonderful to have as a pet. I have a dog myself. But in terms of keeping a fully wild wolf and trying to tame it and keep it as a pet. It's not something we recommend or encourage wolves or wild animals. They deserve to live in wild open spaces. And not many people are able to give them that. But it can also create some confusion. When we say that it's important to respect wolves. I believe quite strongly that yes, you should like wolves and you should respect them but you shouldn't try to fit them into your life at all in terms of keeping them as a pet. They can be respected and loved and appreciated from a distance, and that's much safer for them, and much better for them in terms of their overall lives and happiness. Have you ever gotten wolves that have been at one point or another pets that people couldn't handle. We receive a lot of calls and increase from individuals who are looking to surrender their wolves or they have wolf dog hybrids, wolves dogs coyotes they can all interbreed and produce offspring that can then interbreed as well. And so we do have some individuals that ask if we can take their pets, and we unfortunately can't. We are not a sanctuary that takes in wolves that were once a pet or a mix between a wolf and a dog. But there are organizations in the US that do take in these animals and so we just steer individuals towards those organizations that are better equipped to help. So what are their, this is actually a good one what are aside I guess from people, what natural enemies that they have in the wild. That's a great question. So actually one of the leading causes of death for wolves in the wild is fighting with other wolves wolves compete for space for food for breeding opportunities. And so it's very challenging to be a wolf in the wild so you will see conflict with other wolf paths, or even within members of their family. But the individual who asked that question is correct, really humans are the, the biggest predator of wolves. No other animal sets off one day thinking I'm going to find a wolf and kill it so I can eat it. They're killed by other animals like bears or mountain lions. It's usually because they're fighting over something. No animal is going after a wolf looking to eat it and consume it. We do see that wolf pups, when they're born they're very very small, they're about one pound in size. And so those pups can be food sources for other animals. And by the time they're a few months old they're much bigger. And by the time they're a year old they're the size of their parents and so we don't see as much risk of predation when they're that age, but humans would be outside of other wolves humans would be the main predator for wolves. Is it difficult to locate them in the wild. Definitely, depending on where they live, but also the status of their population. So red wolves, for example, are a heavily monitored species because they're a federally endangered animal. And so they are given tracking collars to wear either a VHS radio collar, which requires the use of radio telemetry tools to pick up signals of those collars in the wild, or a GPS collar, which would send data points remotely at a designated time period throughout the day. And so with red wolves, they do have those tracking collars. In fact, red wolves, most red wolves in the wild have bright orange collars to better identify them as this endangered wolf species. Wolves can be used to track them. Sometimes collars fail. Sometimes batteries die so those aren't always a foolproof way. But for wolves that live out west where their populations are a bit larger, and ground covers very dense, it can be very challenging to track the number of wolves in the wild. And so some states are actually moving away from counting wolves based off of collars and actual numbers by rather estimating the number of wolves that might live in a certain area, or using kind of howl surveys to try to better estimate the number of wolves based on the howls, because it can be very challenging to locate individual wolves. So if somebody works very closely with them, what's the biggest misconception people have about them? That's a really great question. Really the biggest misconception is that wolves are dangerous. Wolves can of course be dangerous, as can humans, as can dogs, as can cats. But many people have this idea that it's not safe to live near wolves in the wild, that if they are living near wolves, their life is at risk. And I think if you're living near wolves in the wild, count yourself very lucky, because you're living in a very wild, healthy place in terms of having a variety of wildlife. But people often take this idea that wolves can be dangerous, and they use that as justification for why wolves should be killed. And you're actually more likely to be killed by cows to make it even sillier. You're more likely to be killed by a vending machine falling on top of you than you are by a wolf. So really if people are able to understand that yes, while wolves are predators and wolves eat meat, wolves aren't chasing after people. Wolves are very afraid of people they know we're dangerous. They know people can harm them, and they prefer to stay very far away. So I think that really is the most dangerous misconception. There are a lot of misconceptions people have about wolves. But the fact that they are a direct threat to human safety is the most dangerous because that's what prompts people to want to kill them. I think you mentioned at the top that some of them are no longer on the endangered list. But should they still be or is it really trending upwards? That's a great question. So the wolf population in the lower 48 states is the highest it's been, at least since humans really came onto, or European settlers really came onto the scene. In the 1970s, after centuries of persecution, extreme killing, the wolf population in the lower 48 states was at about 700. And they were only living in northern Minnesota and an island off the coast of Michigan. After being listed on the endangered species list and receiving federal protection and support combined with reintroduction programs, the wolf population now sits at about 6000 across the lower 48 states, which is great. You know, it's a really great number. Wolves don't occupy every place they once did. Wolves were once found in every single of the lower 48 states. Now they only occupy a handful. So in terms of recolonizing their native range, they're nowhere near close to having done that. But what's challenging with wolves, and this is something we don't really see with any other species except maybe for bears, is that when wolves lose protections, there's an immediate push to kill them and have hunting seasons. And it really confuses people because here was an animal we were just working so hard to protect and to grow their populations. And so when you remove protections to have people immediately, you know, legalize hunting seasons, it really sets a precedent that this is an animal we shouldn't value and that we shouldn't protect. And we see this has already happened this year. Gray wolves lost their federal protections in January, and at the end of February, Wisconsin pushed through an emergency hunting season that was supposed to last for a week. And it only lasted for 60 hours because the state blew past the number of wolves they would let hunters kill. And we also have 216 wolves in 60 hours. And we also see states like Idaho and Montana. These states have had state control of their wolf populations for a few years, and they are introducing extremely aggressive, very brutal legislation that would allow for really rampant killing of wolves. In fact, the Idaho House of Representatives tomorrow is hearing a bill that was already passed or approved by the Idaho State Senate, and this bill would allow for the killing of up to 90% of Idaho's wolf population. People would be able to kill wolves by running them over with snowmobiles. They could trap an unlimited number of wolves on private lands and kill them. And so, we really just see that wolves in this country need federal protections, because when left to state, they're just not given the protections or the respect they deserve. But yes, wolves should be re-listed. There are actually several lawsuits that are trying to push for a re-listing, but several scientists did actually oppose the delisting as well. Because wolves are not considered to be scientifically recovered either. And science is what is supposed to govern delisting decisions. Okay, we've got two questions left. So I want to remind anybody who's listening either through Zoom or through the live stream. If you have any other questions to please post them. The first one is, you said that they can get to be around 200 pounds. What's the largest they can get. I might have misspoke or maybe I was misunderstood. So many people assume wolves can weigh up to 200 pounds or weigh more than 200 pounds based on books or fairy tales. Typically though, the average size is about 60 to 120. The largest wolf recorded was about 176 pounds. So while they can be quite large, 176 is ginormous. But you'll see also a variance of size depending on the type of wolf that it is in terms of its species or subspecies. And then also it's preferred prey source. So for example, gray wolves that hunt bison pretty consistently. You'll see that over the years, they might be a bit larger than other gray wolves that are primarily hunting deer or elk. So you'll see a size can also be dependent on reference as well. Just the last question is actually just can you get can you share your website. Oh, of course. So our website is NY wolf. So NY WOLF dot org NY wolf dot org. You can also just Google wolf conservation center New York and we'll pop right up. So our website is really great. So thank you for bringing this up, because hopefully, many of you are inspired to take action for wolves, whether it's learning more about them, or seeing if you can contact someone to veto legislation that would harm wolves. And our website does a great way of pointing you in various directions. We save the wolves take action page, which is really great. But our website also has our live streaming webcams we had mentioned earlier. And so if you want to see red wolves or see Mexican gray wolves, you can watch those webcams. We will hopefully be having some puppies born this year will have to keep our fingers crossed. And we've been very fortunate in previous years that pups have been born in front of those cameras. So I do recommend visiting our website familiarizing yourself with it. We also have contact information for our center on the website as well. So if you didn't think of a question during this program but think of one later today or tomorrow. You can certainly call us or email us and be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. That's great and well thank you Reagan very very much. I should just remind everybody that we did record this. So it will be up on our YouTube channel in the next couple of days if anybody wants to revisit and watch the wolves howl again which was great. We really really appreciate everybody's time. Check out their website check out the bedroom playhouse website. I hope we can do this again. As the weather gets warmer and I want to thank everybody who who helped us. This is a great way to wrap up Earth week. And so thank you Reagan and thank you everybody for tuning in and everybody have a great rest of your Sunday. Yes, thank you Dan thank you everyone have a great day. Take it easy.