“Campers picked up the young male Friday near Ketchum, beginning an effort to determine if he’s wild — and if he can be returned to his pack.
The pup is awaiting his fate at Zoo Boise.
Tracks on Warm Springs Road in the Smoky Mountains northwest of Ketchum appear to show he was part of a wild pack that lived in the area, said Suzanne Stone, a wolf expert with the Defenders of Wildlife.
Stone and Idaho Department of Fish and Game officers searched in vain Saturday through Monday looking for his pack.
Stone sent an email to wolf biologists worldwide seeking guidance on whether the pack would accept the pup if he were returned. She was deluged with replies — from Europe, Africa, Canada and across the U.S. — giving her enough hope to launch an aerial search and keep looking.
“We haven’t given up yet,” Stone said. “We have weeks if we can find this pack.”
Fish and Game officials still aren’t absolutely sure the pup is a wild wolf; he could be a hybrid someone had as a pet. Fish and Game biologists took a blood sample and sent it away for DNA testing.
The out-of-state campers watched the wolf for about an hour with their car running before picking it up, Stone said. That might have kept the pack from coming for the pup.
For Fish and Game officials, it’s an old story: A mother is scared off, leaving a baby that people take, thinking it abandoned.
Officials warn people to leave them be.
“They didn’t know that the pack would have been right there,” said Mike Keckler, Fish and Game communications chief.
Keckler said the parents were likely moving the pups from a den to a rendezvous site, usually within a mile or two.
The road had been blocked by snow until recently, Stone said. That might explain why the wolves were there in the first place.
The campers took the pup to a veterinarian, where a technician recognized it as a wolf and called Patrick Graham of Defenders of Wildlife. Defenders contacted Fish and Game, and together they agreed to try to find his parents.
The wolf pup was thin but not seriously injured. Fish and Game officers took him to Zoo Boise, where he will await tests and search results.
Zoo Boise vet Holly Peters looked him over and got him to eat some ground meat. But she wanted to wait to do a full exam.
“He was pretty stressed,” said Steve Burns, Zoo Boise director. “She wanted to give him some time to settle down.”
The pup will be quarantined, because officials don’t know what if any diseases he may be carrying, Burns said.
“We want to ensure the health of our collection, as well as him,” Burns said.
Burns is helping Fish and Game by checking with other zoos to determine if they would want him, should he remain in captivity.”
The Wolf Preservation Blog 
I sure hope you find a place for him. If not, I would take him. I have 2 and 1/2 acres in Bend, Oregon. I have a female German Shephard that’s a little over a year old and she has a little wolf in her. I have socialized her really well and she has outgrown her skiddishness a lot more than when she was young. She needs a young playmate as she has my older Labrador (Kate) who is almost 11 years old and too old to really play very hard anymore. She needs a running partner.
Hey Otis,Like I have said so many times. A great teeahcr has to learn from a great teeahcr. And we have a great teeahcr on TEAM WOLF PACK! TY for your support and let’s all help each other on that Road to SUCCESS!
Let’s hope Fish and Wildlife doesn’t slaughter the cub as well….hopefully a TRUE wolf advocacy group will get this little guy and truly care for him.
Thanks so much Vee. Like I said before, The Talent that envryoee has on this team is incredible. I am proud to be a member with all of you. The support and respect from each member gives motivation you will never find with any other program. Team Wolf Pack ROCKS!!!
Cynthia,I appreciate your surppot and the surppot of the entire team. It is a blessing to work with each and everyone of you. And you know that if I know something, you will lean soon as I am a teacher for all my friends That is what makes TEAM WOLF PACK SUCCESSFUL!