Brookfield Zoo Needs Your Help Naming These Adorable Wolf Puppies

By Emma G. Gallegos in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 24, 2015 4:03PM

Mexican gray wolves (Courtesy of the Brookfield Zoo)

The Brookfield Zoo is asking for your help naming a litter of Mexican gray wolf pups.

The Mexican gray wolf is the most endangered mammal species in North America. These four pups, three males and one female, were born at the end of May, and they recently passed a wellness exam with flying colors, the zoo says. So now it's time to give them official names.

One of the pups has already been named Nestor, in memory of a wolf named Ernesta, who had a stint at the Brookfield Zoo from 2010 until 2012. (She later died after being released in the Gila Wilderness recovery area in New Mexico, but not before giving birth to a litter of pups herself.)

The pups are almost weaned from their parents are Zana and Flint, who have been regurgitating meat to feed their puppies, according to NBC Chicago.

The staff has already picked out some potential names, all with a connection to their species' Southwest roots. In the lead right now are the names Magdalena, Chavo (with Inigo not far behind!) and Aldo. Voting kicked off yesterday, but you have until Aug. 5 to vote for your favorite name here.

Mexican gray wolves roam the Southwest, and they used to number in the thousands before the arrival of European settlers who nearly shot their natural prey—deer and elk—to extinction, according to Lobos of the Southwest, a conservation group dedicated to the Mexican gray wolf. When this happened, wolves turned to domestic cattle and sheep to survive. The livestock industry responded by pressuring the U.S. Biological Survey to exterminate the wolves. Mexico did the same, and the species almost went extinct. There were only seven survivors until the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973.