A new Mexican gray wolf enclosure planned at the 蜜柚直播-Sonora Desert Museum听will give visitors a chance to view the wolves like never before 鈥 from the middle of the exhibit, surrounded by the pack.
鈥淲hen guests come to the exhibit, they'll actually walk through a short tunnel that will then put them out into a circular viewing area that's essentially in the center of the wolf exhibit,鈥 explained Hollie Colahan, executive director of the Desert Museum.
The project has been in development for several years, and is estimated to cost around $5 million to complete.
Artist rendition of the proposed Mexican gray wolf habitat at the听蜜柚直播-Sonora Desert Museum.
鈥淚t's going to be about 10 times the size of the exhibit that we currently have, and hopefully provide a lot of improvements for the wolves, but I think also for the guest experience as well,鈥 Colahan said.
The Desert Museum currently houses three Mexican gray wolves, sisters Luna, Sol and Estrella, who came to the museum from a different wolf exhibit back in 2022.听
The new enclosure will allow the wolves more space to roam, as well as more opportunities for enrichment.
鈥淭he concept that's really driving this new exhibit is animal wellbeing. So this design is hopefully going to give the wolves more choice and control in their environment that allows them to have better wellbeing,鈥 said Lynnae Wenker, the Desert Museum's director of philanthropy.听鈥淭he element of choice and control provides more enrichment for the wolves, so they can exhibit natural behaviors that they would in the wild.鈥
The new enclosure will allow the wolves more space to roam, as well as more opportunities for enrichment, Desert Museum leaders say.
The wolves will have access to natural landscaping in the new enclosure, a holding building in the back for protection from the elements, as well as ample shade and water.听
鈥淎bout two years ago, we did a full facility master plan where we looked at all the buildings, all the exhibits, all the guest amenities, everything on the entire campus, and rated stuff based on how old it is, and how well is it functioning, and what we think its lifespan is,鈥 Colahan said. 鈥淎nd then we brought in an outside group that also looked at all of our animal exhibits and rated them from the perspective of how well they're providing for the wellbeing of our animals.鈥
The wolf habitat was one of the exhibits that was noted for updates, Colahan said. 鈥淚t was a great exhibit when it was first built, but it's getting older."听
Back from brink of extinction
Mexican gray wolves like the ones that reside at the Desert Museum were once found across the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, but were nearly driven to extinction by the early 1900s, said Jim DeVos, 蜜柚直播 Game & Fish Department鈥檚 Mexican wolf coordinator.
鈥淧redators were viewed as the impediment in ranching, and so there was a strong effort by not only the ranching community, but also the federal government to eradicate the wolf,鈥 DeVos said.
The wolves were eventually added to the federal endangered species list in 1976. A 2024 survey by wildlife officials in 蜜柚直播 and New Mexico found there were 286 of the endangered canids living in the wild in the two states.
The wolves鈥 comeback is a result of decades-long conservation efforts to save the species from extinction and return them to the landscape.
鈥淎 total of seven animals were brought into a captive breeding program. Today, that program has expanded substantially. We now have about 350 wolves in captivity in both the United States and Mexico,鈥 DeVos said. 鈥淭he first release was in 1998, so in that 26-year period, we've gone from zero to 286.鈥
The Desert Museum currently houses three Mexican gray wolves, sisters Luna, Sol and Estrella.
The Desert Museum has a long history with Mexican gray wolves, and helped spearhead early conservation efforts for the species, said Wenker.听
鈥淏ack in the 1980s, the species was almost entirely eliminated from their natural habitat in the wild and at that time, there were some specialists at the Desert Museum who helped establish conservation programs and awareness campaigns that helped to bring those wolves back from the brink of extinction,鈥 Wenker said.听
To DeVos, the successful reestablishment of the Mexican gray wolf is a tremendous win for the restoration of biodiversity in the Southwest.
鈥淭he partnership that comes through organizations like the 蜜柚直播-Sonora Desert Museum is really what's gotten us from zero to almost 300 (wolves),鈥 DeVos said. 鈥淎nd the fact that the museum is working to expand their facility, I think is great for the wolves.鈥
Community support sought听
Out of the estimated $5 million for the new habitat, Colahan said that the Desert Museum has so far raised about $3.4 million, and is fundraising for the rest.
Those wanting to contribute can donate directly to the project on the Desert Museum鈥檚 website.
鈥溍坭种辈-Sonora Desert Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and we don't receive any regular annual subsidies, so we really do rely entirely on community support and donations,鈥 Wenker said.
While development of the new enclosure design is reaching its final stages, it will still be some time before 蜜柚直播ans can expect to see the wolves in their new home.
Renderings of the planned Mexican gray wolf habitat at the听蜜柚直播-Sonora Desert Museum听place the new exhibit in a vacant area of the property, between the existing restaurant and the aviary.
鈥淲e're hoping we'll finish the design, probably in January, and then we have a permitting process we have to go through with Pima County, and once that's done, we'll start construction,鈥 Colahan said. 鈥淐onstruction is probably about two years.鈥
The permitting process is the biggest unknown, according to Colahan.
鈥淚t could be real fast or real slow, but if that all goes well, I would hope we'd break ground early next year,鈥 Colahan said.
Most importantly, Wenker said the new exhibit is an exciting step in actualizing the Desert Museum鈥檚 long-term mission.
鈥淥ne of the core tenets in (our) long-term plan is to improve animal wellbeing, and this exhibit would achieve that goal,鈥 Wenker said. 鈥淚 think that's a big thing.鈥
he 2024 Mexican wolf census documented a minimum of 286 wolves living in recovery areas 蜜柚直播 and New Mexico. The Mexican wolf population has grown for a record nine consecutive years! See how biologists capture and collar wolves to manage the growing population. Video courtesy of 蜜柚直播 Game and Fish Department.
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