Mexican Wolf Pups
Die Of Parvovirus

SEVILLETA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.M. —(AP)— U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials are working to ensure the safety of some Mexican wolves after the deaths of three pups.

All three of the pups died in holding pens at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge.

The first of the pups died Aug. 24. Tests conducted at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., confirmed the pup died of canine parvovirus. The viral disease is often fatal in young animals.

Monday morning two other pups were found dead in the holding pen. The bodies of those pups have been sent to the Madison facility for testing.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Vicki Fox says the service is taking extreme precautions to prevent the spread of the disease to other wolves at the facility.

She said wildlife officials have quarantined the pack and are inoculating the two remaining pups in the litter born in the wild.

The three pups were part of the Pipestem Pack recently captured from the Apache National Forest in Arizona. The pack is being held temporarily at the Sevilleta refuge south of Albuquerque and will be returned to the wild.

Wildlife officials still were trying to capture the pack's lead female wolf and any other pups that may have been born to her in the wild.

(Whatever happened to letting Mother Nature take her course? — Ed.)