A duo of Denverite readers approached us at a recent community gathering with a big question about the city: Why doesn’t the Denver Zoo have any wolves?
Fair question! We didn’t know the answer. So we asked.
The first response we got was brief.
“The species is not part of our long-term plan for our animal family and campus design,” Chief Conservation Officer Brian Aucone said in a statement.
But why not?
First, wolves just don’t fit into the zoo’s plans for its thematic areas.
Eventually, the zoo wants to build a Latin America experience with jaguars and capybaras. There’s also the Toyota Elephant Passage, with animals like Asian elephants and greater one-horned rhinos. Wolves just don’t make sense with those plans.
Second, the zoo is just 80 acres, and wolves might have a bad time there.
“It's a balance between the animals we can appropriately house and care for on our 80 acres and how species fit in with our larger plan for engaging the community around different regions of the world,” spokesperson Jake Kubié wrote.
So, in short, the zoo doesn’t have room and doesn’t seem particularly interested in having a wolf.
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