Cross-fostering introduces additional complications: Genetically valuable pups must be born in captivity at almost exactly the same time as a wild litter, and managers have to closely
monitor wild wolves to know that has happened.
Using annual population estimates from the Russian Federal Agency of Game Mammal
Monitoring database, researchers analyzed trends of eight large mammals — roe deer, red deer, reindeer, moose,
wild boar, brown bears, lynx, and gray
wolves — in Russia from 1981 to 2010, a time period that includes the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.