The Red Wolf, an Endangered Species
Red Wolves Reintroduced into North Carolina Saved a Dying Species
Oct 20, 2009
With people on their side, even animals thought extinct in the wild can make a comeback. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the red wolf is one such animal. Like the Mexican gray wolf and Brazil's golden lion tamarin, reintroduction of captive animals gave the red wolf's wild population a chance to recover. Whether humans destroy that chance remains to be seen.
What is a Red Wolf?
The red wolf (Canis rufus) is the smaller, more slender of two wolf species, the larger species being the gray wolf (a.k.a. timber wolf). However, red wolves are much larger than their coyote cousins. Contrary to their namesake, red wolves are mostly brown with off-white undersides. Reddish coloring sometimes can be found behind and at the tips of their ears and on their nose and legs.
Per the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the governmental agency largely responsible for the animal's protection and salvation, adult red wolves, on average, weigh 45-80 pounds. They are approximately 26 inches tall at the shoulder and four feet long. They have pointed ears and long legs, resembling those of a German shepherd.
Red wolves shy away from humans. They are pack animals, when there are enough to form a pack. These packs are family units, usually consisting of five to eight members.
Where Do Red Wolves Live?
Historically, red wolf habitat spanned from Texas to Florida and northward to Pennsylvania. In 1980, red wolves were declared extinct in the wild, the last animals having been removed for captive breeding purposes.
Red wolves were first reintroduced to the wild in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. As of October 2009, the largest population can be found there. Smaller populations exist in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida, as well as on several, unpopulated, Eastern coast islands.
What Do Red Wolves Eat?
Red wolves primarily eat dear and small mammals, such as raccoons, rabbits, and nutria (a.k.a. coypu, a large, beaver-like rodent). Since they do not feed on larger mammals, such as elk or bison, red wolves are likely to hunt solo or in pairs.
Why are Red Wolves Endangered?
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the red wolf is "one of the most endangered animals in the world." Viewed as harmful predator, red wolves were hunted for decades. Combined with the destruction of their natural habitat, hunting nearly wiped out the species by 1980. Per UNEP, "public views of the Red Wolf are still poor" despite its near extinction.
Hybridization also impacted the red wolf population. Given their declining numbers, red wolves sometimes find mates in coyotes. Though fertile, the hybrid offspring are not true red wolves and, thus, cannot continue the species.
What Can Be Done to Protect Red Wolves?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is doing all it can to prevent red wolf extinction. From 1974 to 1980, the agency captured as many red wolves it could, with only 14 animals meeting the species' defining criteria. With those 14 wolves, the Fish and Wildlife Service began a captive breeding program at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Washington.
With successful breeding, the agency then embarked upon reintroduction. In 1987, red wolves were released into North Carolina's Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. In the following years, to give future animals experience in the wild before their release into their natural habitat, the Fish and Wildlife Service released red wolves onto unpopulated islands off the coast of South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's North Carolina experiment met with immediate success. In 1988, the first red wolf pups were born at the wildlife reserve. As of 2009, more than 100 wolves live in the wild. Another 200 plus live in captivity at zoos and other breeding facilities.
Despite the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's valiant efforts and the species' low numbers, many still seek to remove red wolves from endangered species protections. Others don't stop there, illegally killing red wolves.
Education and enforcement seem the best methods to preserve the species. Per the Fish and Wildlife Service:
"It is important to save all members of an ecosystem, including predators, if we intend to preserve the environment and be good stewards of the land. Predators maintain the balance and health of ecosystems by controlling overpopulations of prey species and removing unhealthy animals."
Further, red wolves prey on many farm pests. Their presence may also limit coyotes, which are more likely to approach human habitation. "There have been no documented cases of healthy wild red wolves attacking humans in North America, despite 500 years of historical coexistence," says the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Fish and Wildlife Service enforces the protections given red wolves by the Endangered Species Act. However, the agency cannot be everywhere at once. Promoting red wolf conservation and reporting illegal hunting are duties imposed upon all conservation-minded Americans. Only together can conservationists, UNEP, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service insure red wolf survival.
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