Species Hang in the Balance

BINOMIAL NAME:

Canis Lupus Rufus

ANATOMICAL PROPORTIONS:

4.5-5.5 ft. long (tip-to-tail)/ 2-3 ft. tall/ 45-80 lbs.

POPULATION (APPROXIMATE):

100

CONSERVATION STATUS:

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT:

Nearly 2 million acres of the temperate deciduous forests, in northeastern North Carolina, U.S.A. (mostly within Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge)

DIET:

Small mammals, but mostly white-tailed deer and raccoon

SPECIES THREATS:

Starting in the late 19th, and throughout the mid-20th Century, the United States launched a terribly aggressive, organized depredation campaign against their native grey wolves, which included the red wolf sub-species. Certainly, the decimation of the red wolf was in large part due to these early mass elimination programs.

Co-species, like the coyote, also have a negative effect on red wolf populations. First of all, red wolves (because of their relatively small stature) are often mistaken for coyotes by hunters, and are killed during the state's open hunting season. In addition, there has been a problem of inter-species breeding, which leads to red wolf hybridization, hence genetic dilution.

UNIQUE FACTS:

In 1980, the IUCN officially announced that the red wolf was extinct in the wild. In the interest of saving the species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services launched a massive conservation program. Since 1987, 100 captive wolves have been released onto conservation land in North Carolina. Unfortunately, while these efforts have had moderate success, the red wolf is yet to strongly recover---re-population has not been as effective as similar FWS conservation programs, such as the one carried out for the grey wolf.

Today, red wolves remain extremely rare. Highly elusive and secretive, this grey wolf sub-species is hardly ever sighted in the wild.

DEVOTED ORGANIZATION:

Red Wolf Coalition

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