Two red wolves recently became a part of the Bergen County Zoo’s new exhibit. The Wolf Conservation Center as part of the Red Wolf Recovery Program has loaned these animals to this zoo and helped create a new exhibit. It consists not just of the red wolves, Shane and Rich, but also 10,000 square feet. A ribbon-cutting event, as well as performances and extended hours, were held on October 1 and have had a big impact on the Bergen County’s fanbase, as hundreds of kids, adults, and animal lovers attended just for a peek at the new exhibit and two adorable wolves.

This zoo, in particular, does what the average zoo doesn’t– instead of just caring for the animals and showing the public what their habits, behaviors, and personalities are like, The Bergen County Zoo rescues injured animals, exchanges animals with other countries, and breeds the endangered ones. Samantha Massaro, a former Wayne Hills High School student and daughter of a Bergen County zookeeper, said, “They are an accredited zoo that is unique in being part of breeding animals that are on the list for extinction to keep them from disappearing, where people would not be able to see them. I think they are exceeding the standards of what every other zoo does by saving and helping the animals.”

Shane and Rich are two of the very few red wolves left, with there only being nine others alive in the wild, and are one of only two wolf species in North America. The declaration of extinction for Red Wolves was created in 1980, but thanks to extreme conservation efforts, the species is very slowly attempting to grow.

Although the Bergen County Zoo is highly admired by the public for saving species’, some people argue that if animals become extinct or endangered, we as the human population should just leave them alone and not try to save the animals because this is nature and it shouldn’t be tampered with. When asked about her thoughts on that controversial concept, Samantha said, “I disagree with the statements that are being made because humans have destroyed land and water supplies and it causes different species to be extinct that otherwise, might not have. If you think about it, humans started messing with wildlife in the first place in many ways, like smoking, littering, using noise pollution when driving, and other tiny things that have added up. The zoo is just trying to fix what we all have wrecked.”

The addition of Shane and Rich to the zoo has inspired an abundant amount of people and has opened many eyes. This has shown people that there are all kinds of ways to save our planet, even just by supporting good causes that are proactive and determined to assist nature’s problems.