The father of the Oakland Zoo’s gray wolf pack has died, the zoo said.
Sequoia was the father of Arroyo, Lassen, Sonora and Anza, as well as the mate of the mother, Siskiyou.
The zoo said Sequoia started showing a rapid and unexpected decline in health the first week of February. His care team concluded they couldn’t do anything to improve his condition and euthanized him.
The zoo said, at 11 years old, Sequoia was “geriatric.”
Zoo officials said keepers are monitoring the wolf pack closely, but the other wolves are coping well with the loss.
“Much like his namesake, Sequoia was a tall, proud, majestic pillar of California Trail,” Sequoia’s keeper Alicia Powers said, on social media. “He was the bedrock for his mate Siskiyou but really came into his own when he got to raise four cubs. His legacy and impact live on in his offspring and in the many stories we will all share about him for years to come.”
Sequoia and Siskiyou came to the Oakland Zoo in April 2018. Both born in captivity, the wolves lived in the zoo’s California Trail expansion as part of a partnership with the California Wolf Center, an organization dedicated to helping wild wolves return to California after being killed off during government-run anti predator campaigns a century ago.The pair became parents in May 2019.
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