Special Event at the Explorers Club on January 13, 2019!

No other North American mammal inspires such a wide range of human emotions as the wolf. Feared and admired, cursed and revered, wolves are the stuff of legends and a symbol of America’s vanishing wilderness. Their reputation is larger than life; their role in the restoration of America’s wildlife heritage is bigger still. The passionate positive and negative responses that wolves inspire in people have left the issue of their recovery both contentious and undecided, but also full of promise. 

In a “rewilding” movement cheered by some but decried by others, wolves have recolonized portions of their former range in the United States. The Red wolf (Canis rufus) reintroduction was among the first instances of a species, considered extinct in the wild, being re-established from a captive population. In many ways, the red wolf program was the pilot program, serving as a model for subsequent canid reintroductions, particularly those of the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) to the American Southwest and the gray wolf (Canis lupus) to the Yellowstone region twenty-five years ago this month.

But beyond these rewilding efforts, what else does wolf recovery require?

The Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) participates in the federal Species Survival Plan (SSP) and Recovery program for the critically endangered Mexican gray wolf and red wolf. Both species were at one time extinct in the wild. WCC Executive Director Maggie Howell will discuss the importance and plight of wolves in North America, the success of some restoration efforts, and introduce the Center’s active participation in the effort to save critically endangered wolves from extinction. Howell will discuss the role of reproductive management, captive-to-wild release efforts, the husbandry challenge of caring for animals that are rarely seen, and the reward of restoring wolves to their rightful place in the wild.

Date: Monday, January 13

Time: 6:00 pm Reception, 7:00 pm Program

Location: Explorers Club Headquarters, 46 E 70th Street, New York, NY, 10021

Reservations are allotted on a first-come, first-serve basis. For questions, please contact us at 212.628.8383 or by email at reservations@explorers.org.