I don't know where all of you come out on Zoos and artificial insemination but I know deep down that we would not need either of these to have our suite of carnivores that occupied North America at the time of colonization(AD1500) if we could somehow re-connect with the natural world, understanding that everything is connected whether we understand or like it ........................Give Wolves(whether they be Mexican, Gray or Red(Eastern) Wolves enough continuous, contiguous and connected habitat and stop shooting and poisoning them at every turn.....................Once accomplished, Zoos(oh, how I hate to see the animals that we keep in these artificial pens) would not be required to keep "10 pairs of a given species alive and potentially exempt from extermination..................Can we evolve beyond the constraints of our one god modern religions that tend through their historical writings to give man the "green light" to get rid of creatures because "all animals are here for our use" and " they do not have souls"....................Hogwash!..............Have you ever stepped on your dog or cats foot.................Do they scream in pain like you and me?..........................Do they learn through experience and convey self-awareness?...........................Do they not have their own language?.................................I am not celebrating artificial insemination as a cure all for endangerred species unless we simultaneously provide the land and protections needed for our fellow creatures to exist and prosper in their natural and wild habitat

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-04-24/wolf-pup-born-in-missouri-offers-hope-for-endangered-breed&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoTNjgzNTQ2MTQ5Njg5NTE1Njg1MzIaZGE5N2NmOTQ3ODA0Njk5YTpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AFQjCNHUy3Vk3i5CWkwrMMj34Q853sz0Ow

Wolf Pup Born in Missouri Offers Hope for Endangered Breed

A Mexican wolf born this month at a wildlife center in suburban St. Louis is offering new hope for repopulating the endangered species through artificial insemination using sperm that had been frozen.

| April 24, 2017

By JIM SALTER, Associated Press

Regina Mossotti, director of animal care and conservation at the Endangered Wolf Center, holds a Mexican wolf born April 2 at the facility Monday, April 24, 2017, in Eureka, Mo. The wolf was conceived by artificial insemination which is offering new hope for repopulating the endangered species by using sperm that had been frozen. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) THE ASSOCIATED PRES

EUREKA, Mo. (AP) — A Mexican wolf born this month at a wildlife center in suburban St. Louis is offering new hope for repopulating the endangered species through artificial insemination using frozen sperm.

The Mexican wolf population once roamed Mexico and the western U.S. in the thousands but was nearly wiped out by the 1970s, largely from decades of hunting, trapping and poisoning. Commonly known as "El Lobos," the species, distinguished by a smaller, more narrow skull and its gray and brown coloring, was designated an endangered species in 1976.

Even today, only 130 Mexican wolves live in the wild and another 220 live in captivity, including 20 at the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Missouri.

A litter of Mexican wolves was conceived by artificial insemination in Mexico in 2014. But the birth April 2 at the Missouri center was the first-ever for the breed using frozen semen.

Regina Mossotti, director of animal care and conservation at the center, learned for the first time Monday that the pup is a boy. He's gaining weight — now at 4.7 pounds after being less than 1 pound at birth — and appears to be progressing well, she said after an exam of the wiggly pup, which has not yet been named.

"He's big and strong and healthy!" Mossotti said as other wolves howled from a distance.

The center has collaborated with the other organizations for 20 years to freeze semen of Mexican wolves. The semen is stored at the St. Louis Zoo's cryopreservation gene bank, established specifically for the long-term conservation of endangered species.

A procedure to inseminate the mom, Vera, was performed Jan. 27.

"The technology has finally caught up," Mossotti said.

It's a big deal, experts say, because using frozen semen allows scientists to draw from a larger pool of genes, even from wolves that have died.

Mossotti said it's possible the new pup will eventually be moved to the wild, where it would feed largely on elk, deer and other large hoofed mammals. An adult Mexican wolf will weigh 60 to 80 pounds.

The Fish and Wildlife Service began reintroducing Mexican wolves in New Mexico and Arizona starting in 1998, though the effort has been hurt by everything from politics to illegal killings and genetics. Many of the wolves in the wild have genetic ties to the suburban St. Louis center.

The nonprofit was founded in 1971 by zoologist Marlin Perkins, a St. Louis native best known as the host of TV's "Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom." Perkins died in 1986.

Mossotti said wolves are a "keystone" species that play a vital role in a healthy ecosystem. She said the caricature of the "Big, Bad Wolf" is a myth about an animal that actually shuns humans.