Mexican Gray Wolf Program Recovering

A year after a wildfire tore through the California Wolf Center, the program to increase the number of endangered Mexican gray wolves is making a recovery.

Four wolves, including a female Mexican gray wolf, were killed in the July 2002 fire in the hills east of San Diego after a California National Guard helicopter clipped a power line. Fewer than 300 Mexican gray wolves are known to exist.

Since the fire, the center has received $75,000 in donations, said Pat Valentino, executive director. The money helped build a new wolf enclosure, which allowed the center to receive two wild wolves from the Apache Forest in Arizona.