Help name the Brookfield Zoo’s Mexican gray wolf puppies

The Brookfield Zoo is asking for the public to take a break from Fourth of July festivities and help decide the names of its three Mexican gray wolf puppies.

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The Chicago Zoological Society has chosen three potential names for each puppy, and the public can vote for its favorite for each dog, according to a release from the Brookfield Zoo. The names have a connection with either the wolves’ natural habitat in the southwestern United States, the Spanish or Apache languages or a zoo staff member.The choices for male puppy #1469 are:

• Pablo (named after zoo staff member John Pauley)
• Rio (which means river in Spanish)
• Mogollon (a mountain range in the Gila Wilderness_
• or Graham (a county in Arizona.)

The choices for male puppy #1470 are:

• Coronado (the name of a released wolf pack)
• Emory (named after Emory Pass in the Gila Wilderness)
• Reed (named after Reed’s Peak in the Gila National Forest)
• or Azul (which means blue in Spanish.)

The choices for female puppy #1468 are:

• Greenlee (a county in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest)
• Ela (which means Earth in Apache)
• Bailey (part of the Latin name of Mexican gray wolves)
• or Escudilla (the name of the mountain where Elk Horn Pack’s den is located.)

Two other puppies from the litter, Blaze and Brooke, were placed with the Elk Horn Pack in Arizona days after their birth on April 25 as part of a recovery program for the species.

Voting will remain open until 5 p.m. on July 11 at CZS.org/WolfPupNaming2016. The names of the puppies will be announced July 12.