Watch: 4 wolf pups in northern Minnesota captured on trail camera
4 wolf pups in northern Minnesota captured on trail camera
The Voyageurs Wolf Project's trail camera captured video of four wolf pups from the Half-Moon Pack in the Voyageurs National Park area of northern Minnesota. Researchers just checked the trail cameras, with this footage (it's looped) being the first of the pack's pups this year. The video is from early August. Researchers say there's evidence the four pups have made it to September.
(FOX 9) - The Voyageurs Wolf Project captured adorable video four wolf pups frolicking in the woods on its trail cameras, which suggests the young wolves made it to September.
The wolf pups are from the Half-Moon Pack, which formed in 2020. Researchers said on social media Thursday they just checked the trail cameras, which had the footage (above) on it from early August, which is the first footage of the pups this year. The cameras also captured footage of the four pups on Aug. 20, which suggests the pups did make it to September.
"Time will tell, though, if these pups make it," the Voyageurs Wolf Project said. "Pup survival in the Half-Moon Pack has been a curious case since the pack formed in 2020. Over the past few years, most of the pack's pups have survived until August. However, pup survival has plummeted after August with most of the pack's pups dying before winter."
In 2020, the Voyageurs Wolf Project says all four Half-Moon pups survived through August by all four died by winter. In 2021, seven of the eight pups survived until mid-August, but by winter only one pup was still alive. So, only one out of 12 of the pups produced by the pack have survived until adulthood thus far.
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Researchers did note all four pups look to be in "pretty decent condition" in the footage they have, adding "None look super thin or emaciated. But the pups aren't out of the woods yet."
The Voyageurs Wolf Project is a research project through the University of Minnesota aimed at furthering understanding of wolf behavior, specifically how wolves spend their summer.