Red Wolf (Canis Rufus)
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Descriptions Habitats
The red wolf is generally about 4 feet long from Costal prairies with tall grasses and wooded
nose to the tip of their tail. They are approximately areas were the ideal habitat for red wolves.
between the size of their larger cousin the grey wolf Unfortunately, many of these areas were
and the smaller coyote. Their red color destroyed and developed, particularly for use in
is often over-emphasized, most red wolves are agriculture. The habitat requirements for the red
closer to colors described as "cinnamon buff" wolf are:
or "tawny" which mixes with black and white fur.
The red wolf is generally about 4 feet long from Costal prairies with tall grasses and wooded
nose to the tip of their tail. They are approximately areas were the ideal habitat for red wolves.
between the size of their larger cousin the grey wolf Unfortunately, many of these areas were
and the smaller coyote. Their red color destroyed and developed, particularly for use in
is often over-emphasized, most red wolves are agriculture. The habitat requirements for the red
closer to colors described as "cinnamon buff" wolf are:
or "tawny" which mixes with black and white fur.
1. Heavy vegetative cover: for denning
Social Structure and resting as well as hunting.
Red wolves are much less "regimented" than their
larger relatives, the grey wolf. They show strong 2. Dens: traditionally hollow trunks or
family bonds and travel in family groups, often of stream banks, now often drain pipes
between 2-7 wolves. or irrigation ditches.
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Offspring
Red wolf pups are generally born in between the months of April and May, with somewhere between 1-6 pups per litter, although as many as 12 pups in a litter have been reported. They are often born in grass "nests", under high cover. Pups will travel in the fall with their parents and remain a part of the familial pack for about a year before going off to create their own family packs.
Watch a litter of red wolf pups play & enjoy a snack in their captive breeding facility:
Geographic Changes
Red Wolf Original Habitat Current Red Wolf Habitat
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Originally, the range of the red wolf covered the entire Southeastern United States. They spanned from the Atlantic Coast to the Gulf of Mexico, all the way to Illinois. At the time the recovery report was published, red wolves were still found in limited places in the wild. They could be found in about 900 square miles of land in Texas, as well as 800 square miles in Louisiana. However, today the world's only wild red wolf population can be found in North Carolina as a result of experimentally re-established populations.
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Populations
Red wolves were declared formally extinct in the wild in 1980. Wolves were re-introduced due to an experimentally established population. Current estimates of wild red wolves range from anywhere between 45 and 100 wolves living only in North Carolina. There are larger populations of red wolves in captivity, who have been born and bred in captive breeding facilities. There are 38 captive breeding facilities spread around the United States, far beyond the red wolf's original range, that house around 200 more red wolves.
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Listing Date / Type of Listing
On March 11, 1967 red wolves were listed as a Federally Endangered Species. At the time, red wolf populations in the wild existed only on the Gulf Coast, South East Texas and South West Louisiana. Today, both of those populations are gone and the only remaining wild red wolves are in North Carolina.
Cause of Listing Continued Threats
The initial cause of the decline in red wolves One of the biggest threats the red wolf faces
can be traced directly to growing human populations. now is hybridization. As red wolf populations
Agriculture expanded and red wolf habitats were began to die off, coyotes began to move into
destroyed or damaged. The habitat requirements their territory and, as generalists, were much
of red wolves were no longer met and, as a whole, more able to survive easily. Many coyotes and
the population of red wolves declined. These red wolves mated, making the remaining pool of
smaller populations were often killed by genetically pure red wolves were much smaller.
farmers as predator control to keep them from Genetically pure red wolves were much harder
hunting livestock. to determine and preserve.
Image from the 1979 Red Wolf Recovery Plan Summary
1973 Recovery Plan
Over 400 red wolves were captured in the wild between 1973 and 1980. Genetic testing on the wolves revealed that only 17 of those morphological wolves were true biological red wolves. The majority of the specimens were red wolf-coyote hybrids that were released from the breeding project.
Bulls Island
In 1978, two 9-month old red wolf pups who had been born in captivity were released into the nature reserve known as Bulls Island, off of the coast of South Carolina. The pups, known as John and Judy, not only survived but thrived and were eventually relocated to the Alligator River National Park. This started an island breeding program where young wolves were taken from their breeding facilities, brought to Bulls Island temporarily to gain survival skills and then released into the wild. This program was ended in 2005.
Red Wolves in the Wild
Though now closed, the Red Wolf Captive Breeding Program experiment proved that red wolves can be
re-established in the wild and created the existing population in North America.
re-established in the wild and created the existing population in North America.
Updated Recovery Plan
Despite the original recovery plan being created over 40 years ago, red wolves are still being considered for preservation. Maggie Howell, the Executive Director of the Wolf Conservation Center claimed "[Red wolves] importance to a balanced and resilient ecosystem is undeniable...Red wolf recovery should be a matter of pride and priority". A revised version of the red wolf recovery plan is expected to be issued in early 2018. Though the plan has not yet been released, in 2016 the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared that they would develop a 2 year study of wild and captive populations of red wolves, as well as evaluating the plausibility of red wolf survival in the wild. The steps laid out within this new plan are to first add to and stabilize the population of captive wolves. There are currently only 29 breeding pairs in captivity, not nearly large enough to grow the red wolf population. In order for the population to be deemed stable, the nearly 200 red wolves in captivity will need to be doubled to 400 red wolves through carefully facilitated breeding. Next, sites for attempted re-introduction must be chosen. These sites will be chosen by a combination of environmental and habitat analysis, as well as public input. The Service must also work to create an updated Species Status Assessment as well as a 5 year status review.
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What Can You Do?
Learn about red wolves, and teach others
Visit their native sites in North Carolina, the only place that wild red wolves can still be found, visit the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/alligator_river/
Advocate that red wolves are still worth saving, their importance as a species is still questioned in many places. One great way to do this is by joining the Red Wolf Coalition: https://redwolves.com/newsite/
Adopt a red wolf in captivity (or a whole pack!) and work to help the survival of this species: http://www.endangeredwolfcenter.org/adopt/
Other Resources
References
"Red Wolf Recovery." Red Wolf Recovery Program, U. S Fish & Wildlife Service, 25 May 2017, www.fws.goc/news/shownews.cfm?ref=science-leads-fish-and-wildlife-esrvice-to-significant-changes-for-red-&_ID=35794.
"Red Wolf Recovery." Red Wolf Recovery Program, U. S Fish & Wildlife Service, 25 May 2017, www.fws.goc/news/shownews.cfm?ref=science-leads-fish-and-wildlife-esrvice-to-significant-changes-for-red-&_ID=35794.
“Red Wolf”. Endangered
Wolf Center, Association of Zoos and Aquariums,
www.endangeredwolfcenter.org/educational-resources/red-wolf/.
"Basic Facts About Red Wolves." Defenders of Wildlife, 13 Oct. 2016, www.defenders.org/red-wolf/basic-facts.
"The Truth About Red Wolves." The Truth About Wolves, Animal Welfare Institute, 2016, thetruthaboutwolves.com/
Howard, Brian Clark. "For World's Only Wild Red Wolves, a Fateful Decision." National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 18 Mar. 2015, news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150318-red-wolves-north-carolina-conservation-reintroduction-science/.
Wheeler, Kim. "Red Wolf News." Red Wolf Coalition, Museum of Life and Science, 2017, https://redwolves.com/newsite/.
Howell, Maggie. "USFWS Pledges to Prepare Updated Red Wolf Recovery Plan." Wolf Conservation Center, 31 Jan. 2017, https://nywolf.org/usfws-pledges-to-prepare-updated-recovery-plan/.
Really good! You do a really good job describing the species and the threats facing the Red Wold. It's awful that so much of their habitat has been destroyed. - Emilio
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting that hybridization is the leading threat to the wolves today and that it is directly related to human influence. Hopefully the captive breeding program is more successful in the future. - Jacob Lafarga
ReplyDeleteVery nice, detailed blog! Very sad that North Carolina is the only remaining place containing wild red wolves. Hopefully the 29 breeding pairs in captivity increase and their population can finally expand again.
ReplyDeleteHey! Great job. Something that really stood out to me was how even though it was made 40 years ago, they are still working to bring these animals back. This just goes to show how strenuous the de-extinction process can be. - Grantland Tracy
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! It's so sad that farmers kill them to protect their livestock. I also thought it was interesting that mating with coyotes has caused problems with preserving pure red wolves. -Alyssa Slattery
ReplyDelete