Leading up to Wolf Awareness Week (October 17-23), Como is excited to welcome two new resident wolves into Como’s Wolf Woods habitat, and announce the opening of a new wolf traveling exhibit.
The eerie and distinctive call of the gray wolf will echo again at Como Zoo with the arrival of Nicky (left) and Cerberus (right), two-and-a-half-year-old littermates born at the Wildlife Science Center in Stacy, Minnesota. These two beautiful male wolves will be on exhibit beginning October 1st at Como Zoo as ambassadors of their species. The wolves will provide zoo visitors with an opportunity to learn about this majestic species and how we can learn to co-exist with them.
Since 17-year-old gray wolf Shy-Anne passed away in 2020, Como’s Critical Infrastructure Team has cleaned up and updated the Wolf Woods habitat, removing buckthorn and other shrubs, and adding a new fence in the interior of the habitat that will make it easier for keepers to access the wolf woods while the wolves are outdoors. “The result is that visitors will have a much better view of the wolves,” says zookeeper Hans Jorgensen. Thanks to the remote location of the Wolf Woods, and Nicky and Cerberus’s clean bill of health, the wolf brothers will soon be ready to meet the public.
And….a new traveling exhibit from Ely, Minnesota’s International Wolf Center, in partnership with Outhouse Exhibit Services, Inc, entitled “Wolves and Wild Lands in the 21st Century” will open to the public October 1st in Como’s Exhibit Gallery.
The traveling exhibit, “Wolves and Wild Lands” brings compelling stories of wolves and their relationship to humans. For example, did you know that wolves once occupied every habitat in North America, from mid Mexico to the polar ice pack? Human encroachment has led to diminished territories and prey for most wolves, but much important work is being done to find a way towards harmony between wolves and people.
The exhibit is comprised of six preserved taxidermy specimens: 5 wolves and a coyote, each presented in its human and natural-history context, along with graphics providing regional information that impacts each of these animals. Species included are:
- Arctic Wolf
- Mexican Wolf
- Coyote
- Red Wolf
- Rocky Mountain Wolf
- Great Plains Wolf
