Durham Red Wolf Family Bound for New York

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The seven red wolves occupying the Explore the Wild habitat at the Museum of Life and Science are moving on next month to the Wolf Conservation Center in New York.

But like most Durham properties that hit the market, their habitat won’t stay unoccupied for long.

In a blog post, museum officials announced the impending departure of female Oak, male Adeyha, and their five pups. The decision is based on recommendations made at the American Red Wolf SAFE meeting held earlier this summer.

“It has been determined that Oak and Adeyha are still a genetically valuable pair and are expected to breed again in 2025, which is incredible news for the red wolf population, but puts strain on our habitat in Explore the Wild: Red Wolves,” the blog post states. “Seven wolves are not the most we’ve had (that would be a whopping 10 wolves), but it is about three wolves too many, especially as the pups continue to grow.”

The new habitat at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, N.Y., is about three times the size of the Durham museum habitat.

Replacing Oak, Adeyha, Juniper, Cedar, Sassafras, Maple, and Tupelo will be female Martha and male Oka, a mated pair that produced this year but without any surviving pups.

Martha’s got some family ties to the Museum of Life and Science. She was part of a 2018 litter born to wolves that had been transferred from Durham to the Wolf Conservation Center.

Visitors can see the current family of wolves daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until they depart.