Jan

Sixth Annual Pup Naming Contest for Kids

Lobo Communications, 2018 News

Help Give Wild Born Mexican Wolf Pups Names with Our Sixth Annual Pup Naming Contest for Kids

Faces like these are more than just numbers.

Every year in January, the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT) completes its annual year-end population survey of the wolves living in Arizona and New Mexico. As part of this survey, the IFT captures, collars, and identifies each wolf they find with a number. We believe that these critically endangered animals deserve more than generic numbers, so we are reaching out to children from Kindergarten through 8th Grade to use their creativity to name the new pups.

Mexican gray wolves are the most endangered gray wolves in the world. Fewer than 120 roam the wildlands of the Southwest. And just like people, every Mexican wolf is special, and different, and deserving of his or her own identity.

The naming contest is open to children across the globe and is a great way for kids, teachers, and parents to learn and share about these wonderful animals. We provide lots of informative resources below about this unique sub-species of gray wolf.

We will be accepting entries in three age categories:

* Kindergarten through second grade: Pup names should be submitted with an entry form, art work featuring Mexican gray wolves and a brief explanation of why the name was chosen.

* Third through Fifth grade: Pup names can be submitted with an entry form, artwork focused on Mexican gray wolves and a brief explanation of why the name was chosen, a poem, or a short essay explaining why the name was chosen.

* Sixth through Eighth grade: Pup names should be submitted with an entry form, a poem or short essay explaining why the name was chosen.

Entries can be submitted by individuals or teams.

You can download the full guidelines and entry form here .

IMPORTANT * IMPORTANT * IMPORTANT

As this is the sixth year for the Pup Naming Contest, many names have already been given to pups. Please see this list of names that are already taken. Submissions with these names will not be considered in this year’s contest.

All entries must be submitted to namelobopups@gmail.com no later than midnight PST on February 11, 2018.

Entries will be posted on our website.

Winning entries will be recognized and celebrated in our email newsletter, on our website and Facebook page, and in press materials.

We also feature “Pupdates” from time to time which includes stories about the wild pups and their families.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For educational resources about Mexican gray wolves, visit:

Lobos of the Southwest:

* Kid Zone: Fun facts about wolves, great downloads, stories about wolf country, and more.

* About Mexican Gray Wolves: General information about Mexican wolves and how they differ from northern Gray wolves.

* Brush with Extinction: Some history on the recovery of the Mexican wolf and current status of the wild population.

* The Wild Gila Blue: Information about the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area.

Defenders of Wildlife’s Mexican gray wolves
* Basic facts about Mexican gray wolves.