Local Wildlife Park announce birth of UK’s first wolf pups to be born in the UK

Farm holidays in Devon for children at Smythen Farm wouldn’t be complete without a trip to local family attraction, Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park. And now there’s even more reason to visit as it’s been announced that a litter of wolf pups born at the park are in fact the first of their kind to be born in the entire UK for more than 300 years! The pups are of the Hudson Bay Wolf breed, a rare type of wolf, with official numbers unknown as to how many of the wolves are left in their natural habitat of northern Canada, but seven have successfully entered the world in Combe Martin. Park director, Dawn Gilbert, told the North Devon Journal: "This is a rather large litter for a first time mum. The average litter size is four to six and not all of them generally survive. "It is still early days yet but the pups are making strong progress and mum Naira is carrying out her role brilliantly." Naira, along with sister, Saskia, first made the park home almost two years ago, in July 2013, and Maska, a male wolf, joined them the following February. Dawn added: "We always intended to allow them to have one litter because they are social pack animals that live in family groups so it is better for their welfare. We weren't sure if it was going to happen this year as they are all still fairly young. "What is more surprising is the size of the litter, so it is really imperative that we extend their existing enclosure to accommodate them all as adults." Image: www.westerndailypress.co.uk under Creative Commons>.