BATTLE CREEK (WKZO-AM) — The Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek has announced the death of its last Mexican grey wolf.
Phoenix was 14 years old when he was euthanized on Monday due to deteriorating health. They say the median life expectancy of the species is around 11 years.
The animal was one of a group of eight pups born at the zoo in 2002.
The four females went on to live at other facilities, to be part of an effort to over the last two decades to rebuild theMexican grey wolf population after they were nearly hunted to extinction.
“The wolves born at Binder Park Zoo could one day, long after their deaths, contribute to the Mexican wolf population,” Zoo spokesperson Kari Parker said. “DNA collection is one way conservationists work to protect this species far into the future. Semen samples taken from the three male wolves previously at Binder Park Zoo and many other wolves around the United States are stored in a cryogenic genome bank or ‘frozen ark.’”
“This viable, genetic gene pool helps to sustain the Mexican wolf population and carry on the lineage of the Mexican gray wolf,” Parker said.
The zoo expects to host wolves again in the future.
