Canis lupus baileyi

God's response to chihuahuas.

Glen Davidson

It's got a lovely woolly coat.

Magnificent! But if dogs evolved from wolves, why are there still wolves?

Marilyn said: It's got a lovely woolly coat.

Marilyn said: It's got a lovely woolly coat.

stevaroni said:

Marilyn said: It's got a lovely woolly coat.

Shhhh.... It's trying to put one over on the sheep.

So that is the original version of the chupacabra!

Marilyn said: It's got a lovely woolly coat.

A thick neck ruff is typical for wolves in winter coat. But a coat that thick seems more suited to a northern-type wolf. None of the photos of C. lupus baileyi at Wikimedia show anything like it. It leads me to wonder whether that's a Mexican wolf at all. Is it possible the exhibit was mislabeled, and this animal belongs to some other subspecies of wolf?

I know nothing about Mexican or any other wolves but I wonder if it has anything to do with temperature. Brookfield Zoo is in a suburb of Chicago. The Chicago mean low temperature is for January is 18 deg F with a record minimum of -24 deg F.
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0225

If I was a wolf and I had moved from Mexico to Chicago I suspect I would be growing the largest, warmest fur coat I could manage!

https://me.yahoo.com/a/4i3Cj_gJ1N7rJXe.7jpNbFmo1Enkj7QA#3d0d9 said: A thick neck ruff is typical for wolves in winter coat. But a coat that thick seems more suited to a northern-type wolf. None of the photos of C. lupus baileyi at Wikimedia show anything like it. It leads me to wonder whether that's a Mexican wolf at all. Is it possible the exhibit was mislabeled, and this animal belongs to some other subspecies of wolf?

Mexican gray wolves are a “subspecies,” or subgroup, of gray wolves and would be extinct in the wild if not for the help of zoos and other conservation organizations. Brookfield Zoo chose to be part of an international recovery program for Mexican gray wolves because they are the most endangered wolves in North America. The Mexican gray wolves living at Brookfield Zoo are part of a multizoo breeding program called a Species Survival Plan (SSP). Because few data about Mexican gray wolves in the wild exist, Brookfield Zoo staff are gathering all of the information they can about the wolves living here. It is possible that offspring from a breeding pair of Brookfield Zoo wolves might one day be a candidate for the release back into the wild.

A female Mexican gray wolf from Brookfield Zoo, which is managed by the Chicago Zoological Society, has been released into the wild. The wolf, F1126 (known as Ernesta at Brookfield Zoo), her mate M1051, and four of her pups—together named the Coronado pack—were released into the Gila Wilderness Area in New Mexico on July 22. The Society’s participation in this recovery program demonstrates its commitment to helping increase the Mexican gray wolf population in the wild, as well as to raising awareness about an iconic North American species that was on the brink of going extinct.

Mexican gray wolves are the most rare and most genetically distinct subspecies of North American gray wolves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services first listed the species on the Endangered Species List in 1976. There are 248 Mexican wolves living in 53 institutions across the United States and Mexico. The 2013 census recorded at least 83 wolves in 14 packs, which includes at least 17 pups born in the wild and surviving through the January census. Mexico currently has one pack in the wild: a pair with five pups.

They seem to be forgetting the "chupacabras", which are some sort of strange mutant or hybrid Mexican Wolves that are almost completely hairless and seem to have unusually long legs. Several specimens were genetically tested and found to be primarily Mexican Wolf.