San Francisco Zoo Names Wolves After Jerry Garcia, Prince & David Bowie

This week the San Francisco Zoo welcomed a trio of new residents in the form of three newly acquired Mexican wolves. The zoo honored three late musicians – Jerry Garcia, Prince and David Bowie – in naming the three brothers.

Named after the local legendary Grateful Dead guitarist who died in 1995, “Garcia” is joined by his brothers “Bowie” and “Prince” who were named after the pair of iconic artists who passed away earlier this year. Here’s a bit more about the new zoo siblings from the announcement revealing their arrival:

Mexican gray wolves are the most endangered wolf subspecies but thanks to a concerted conservation effort, the population has grown to about two hundred in captivity and one hundred in the wild! The new habitat will be outfitted with state-of-the art technology like automatic feeding devices, a sound system to initiate shifting, sensors to detect climate changes and 14 CrowdOptic Eye cameras. Our three Mexican wolf brothers (named Bowie, Prince and Garcia) can now be seen in their new habitat near the bears. Come out and see the brothers this weekend!

Garcia’s (the late musician, not the wolf) Dead band mate Bob Weir was recently given the honor of having an extinct species of otter named after him. Fittingly, one of Jerry’s guitars, a custom-built Doug Irwin creation – was named “Wolf” and featured a cartoon (perhaps Mexican?) gray wolf graphic.