The Toledo Zoo has welcomed three new wolves into its pack and is asking for the public’s help in choosing names for them.
The three males are 9 months old and are all from the same litter. They join the zoo’s two adult female wolves in the Arctic Encounter exhibit. They are distinguishable by their heavier build and slightly darker color with reddish-brown hues, while the females are a very light gray.
Wolves have a complex social structure, so introductions were done very carefully. The young wolves were integrated slowly into the pack so staff could be sure they were secure and their arrival did not upset the hierarchy already established by the adults.
A donation drive that began today and runs through Jan. 23, will decide the new wolves’ names. Each $5 donation toward the wolves’ care and toward wild wolf conservation will earn a donor three votes.
The proposed names are:
- Loki -- a mischievous shape-shifting god of Norse mythology.
- Odin -- a mythological Norse god known for wisdom, wit, and war.
- Hopi -- a Native American tribe associated with peace, reverence, and respect.
- Kanza -- a Native American tribe associated with the south wind and water.
- Tundra -- from the Russian or Finnish word for a cold, treeless plain.
- Lobo -- the Spanish word for wolf.
Donations and votes may be made online at toledozoo.org/wolf, by phone at 419-385-5721, or in person at the zoo. The results will be announced Monday, Jan. 26.
The wolves are scheduled to be on exhibit daily until 4 p.m. unless weather or other factors require them to be moved briefly off exhibit.
First Published January 12, 2015, 4:57 p.m.
