8 Mexican gray wolf pups were born in Coahuila

The MUDE (Desert Museum), announced eight Mexican wolf pups were born at the museum.

Museum authorities said they are four females and four males and added that they are healthy.

Since 2007, the MUDE joined a Mexico-U.S. program to save the Mexican gray wolf from extinction .

Currently, the museum looks after 18 wolves.

Recommended: The Mexican wolf is no longer extinct

The Mexican wolf

The Mexican gray wolf is a subspecies of the gray wolf. The species has been endangered in Mexico and the U.S. since the 1970s and remains “the most endangered subspecies of wolf in the world.”

According to the Wolf Conservation Center, the Mexican gray wolf ( Canis lupus baileyi ) is the most genetically distinct lineage of gray wolves in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the most endangered mammals in North America. By the mid-1980s, hunting , trapping, and poisoning caused the extinction of wolves in the wild, with only a handful remaining in captivity . In 1998 the wolves were reintroduced into the wild as part of a federal reintroduction program under the Endangered Species Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity explains that the Mexican gray wolf is roughly five feet in length and weighs between 50 and 80 pounds. Their coats are buff, gray, and rust-colored, often with distinguishing facial patterns. They have large heads with thick muzzles, bushy tails, oversized paws, and long legs. Wolves are known for their keen sense of smell, excellent hearing, and binocular vision.

Mexican gray wolves

are found in a variety of habitats, including mountain woodlands and the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts .

Recommended: 8 Mexican wolf cubs born in Mexico City

The Mexican wolf lives in packs of four to nine animals, consisting of two adults and their offspring. The alpha pair will mate for life, and they normally are the only breeding animals in the pack. Mexican gray wolves breed in February and March, and following a gestation period of approximately 63 days, the mother gives birth to four to seven pups.

Mexican gray wolves were trapped, shot, and poisoned to near extinction and poaching is the other primary threat to the wolf.

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