Highland Wildlife Park celebrates baby boom for pack

Four European grey wolves have been born at Highland Wildlife Park, part of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS).

The pups are just four weeks old and are already beginning to explore their surroundings, weeks earlier than expected.

They join Highland's existing pack of seven wolves, which comprises mother Elara and father Puika, who are both nine years old, as well as five of their offspring who were born last year.

In the beginning, the newborns were helpless and relied solely on their mother's milk, but the pups are now beginning to eat meat scraps and explore outside their den.

By about 10 weeks old they will be fully weaned and, about three months later, they will be ready to travel with their pack around wolf wood – their designated area of the park.

"The birth and rearing of wolf pups two years in a row is testament to the appropriateness of the space we have created for them," commented Douglas Richardson, head of living collections at Highland.

"Because of the nature of the enclosure, the pack is very calm when visitors are present and one can sit and watch the full range of social interaction, including the rearing of very young pups and how the different pack members interact with them."

European grey wolves became extinct in Scotland during the 18th century, due to mass deforestation and direct persecution, but have been an iconic species for the wildlife park since it opened in 1972.

Image courtesty of RZSS