NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Living Museum has a new Red Wolf.

9-year-old Hyde, a male Red Wolf (Canis rufus), will join the museum’s female Red Wolf, Katniss, at the facility’s outdoor Boardwalk Trail just in time for Wolf Awareness Week which is set for Oct. 17-23.

Hyde was transferred to the Virginia Living Museum last month from Wolf Haven International in Tenino, Washington.

The facility currently exhibits over 250 species of native animals with the Red Wolf being the most endangered mammal in the United States. 

According to museum officials, red wolves are highly social pack animals, experiencing the highest levels of welfare when kept together in groups or packs.

Red Wolf Awareness Week aims to educate and share the plight and efforts to recover a species “on the brink of extinction.”

As of 2021, the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP) managed population consists of 245 (131 males, 114 females) wolves, with 159 wolves at 23 AZA facilities (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and 86 wolves at 21 approved non-AZA facilities.

There are likely less than 20 red wolves remaining in the wild. Currently, they are the most endangered mammal in North America.

Check out Hyde and Katniss at the museum during the “Keeper Talks and Red Wolf Enrichment” at 10 a.m. daily at the Red Wolf Exhibit at the facility’s outdoor trail.