TACOMA, Wash. — Editor's note: the video above was published in May 2019, just after the wolf litter was born.
Eight red wolf pups at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium were named this week after more than 4,500 ballots were cast by the public to choose their names.
The three male puppies were named Chester, Cypress and Hawthorn, and the five female puppies were named Camellia, Magnolia, Myrtle, Peat and Willow. They are named after plants native to North Carolina, where the remaining wild wolves are located.
"They're growing fast, and they all appear to be healthy," the zoo's Associate Veterinarian Dr. Kadie Anderson said. "They are the future of their species."
The wolves are critically endangered in North America; there are only about 40 left in the wild and about 250 of them live in zoos and wildlife centers. Female red wolves typically have between two and eight pups per litter.