Cheyenne and Yahzi
KenaiPORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
It is a bittersweet time at the Oregon Zoo as visitors say goodbye to the three gray wolves that leave for Omaha, NE, the week of Aug. 6.
Cheyenne, Kenai Jr. and Yazhi will head to Nebraska conservation park as the Oregon Zoo prepares to expand the Asian Elephant exhibit.
The expansion will stretch over much of the meadows and forests along the zoo's eastern edge, and there will no longer be room for a sufficiently engaging wolf habitat.
While the wolves will be missed, the Nebraska conservation park will provide a much larger territory with hills and trees.
"It's hard for us to see these wolves go, and we know visitors will miss them too," said Amy Cutting, curator of the zoo's North America exhibits. "But we would rather lose them to a better environment than keep them in a less than ideal space."
Gray wolves will eventually return to the Oregon Zoo. As part of the zoo's 20-year plan, the Great Northwest habitat where the mountain goats and black bears currently reside will be renovated to provide a large space for black bears, cougars and gray wolves.
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