New pack of five grey wolves unveiled at Assiniboine Park Zoo

A new wolfpack is making its home at the Assiniboine Park Zoo.

A new pack of grey wolves has arrived at the Assiniboine Park Zoo.

Gigi, Chinook, Comet, Stella and Virgo have been introduced as the new canines at the zoo.

They arrived Thursday from the Greater Vancouver Zoo.

“We’re really excited,” said Shane Pratt, the curator of animal care. “Our team is just really excited to bring in a charismatic northern species.”

Comet, Stella and Virgo are the offspring of Gigi and Chinook, Platt said.

He noted Gigi has shown a lot of confidence in the new enclosure already, and it’s rubbing off on the rest of the pack.

“Until they come here and we get to know them, we don’t really know what to expect. So we kind of assume they’re going to be fairly nervous and we try to make sure everything’s going to be very comfortable for them, but they’ve exceeded our expectations.”

The zoo had been on the hunt for a new pack since the last grey wolf, Bear, died back in March at 15.

Bear and the rest of his pack of five had been at the zoo since 2014.

Pratt said they had contacted the Vancouver Zoo quite some time ago, as they had 13 wolves and were looking to move some out.

Wolves are a big attraction at the zoo, Pratt said, adding visitors really connect with the animals.

“There’s very few animals that inspire people about wildlife and wild places like wolves do.”

When Gigi came out to explore her enclosure on Thursday, Pratt said people got very excited to see her and were in awe of her.