Minnesota’s International Wolf Center to debut 2 wolf pups

By Stephen Swanson

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    Minnesota (WCCO) — The International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, will soon show off its two new wolf pups, and the public’s help is needed to name the duo.

The pups, both males, were born on April 22, about one year to the day the center lost its ambassador, an 8-year-old Arctic wolf named Axel, to severe kidney failure.

The pups arrived in Ely on May 3, and beginning on June 3, the center will begin offering 15-minute viewing opportunities.

“We strive to maintain a socially cohesive unit of wolves that act as ambassadors of their species,” the center said. “The 2025 pup introduction is a significant investment in our pack’s future.”

Although the pups will make their debut next week, they won’t officially join the exhibit pack until August. The center says they wait until pups are about 3 months old and about 30-plus lbs.

You also have a chance to help name the pups online, with voting closing on June 6 and the final names revealed on June 9.

The center, located in the Superior National Forest, says pup viewing opportunities are included with the cost of admission and will take place outdoors, weather permitting, at 9:45 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:45 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. The center is open daily between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from late May through mid-October.

More information on tickets and the center’s pup livestream can be found on its website.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says as of 2023, there are about 2,700 wild wolves in the state.

Minnesota’s northeast corner “once sheltered the last remaining wild wolves of the lower 48 states,” the DNR says, before the Endangered Species Preservation Act passed in 1966.

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