The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently reported that this is shaping up to be a good year for endangered red wolves in eastern North Carolina:

April and May are very exciting months for red wolves - both in the wild and in captivity. It’s pup season! This annual occurrence finds Red Wolf Recovery Program, USFWS, wildlife biologists spending many hours in the field, seven days a week, looking for hidden dens over the five counties of Dare, Tyrrell, Hyde, Washington and Beaufort. Radio telemetry collars tell the biologists that there are 18-20 packs in this 1.7 million acres of northeastern North Carolina - the only place in the world where red wolves roam free in a portion of their original home range.

So far for the 2008 pup season, the biologists have found 12 litters with 51 red wolf puppies. But there could still be more! For the next several weeks, the 5 red-wolf wildlife biologists will keep looking. Ideally, the red wolf field crew would like to find 3 or 4 more dens, but this season has already proven to be a “healthy” denning season.

During 2007, 2006, and 2005, 31, 44, and 55 pups (respectively) were found among the wild population.

The red wolf is one of two species of wolves in North America, the other being the gray wolf. The average adult red wolf weighs approximately 45-80 pounds, is about 26 inches tall, and is about 4 feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail.

According to the Red Wolf Recovery page:

The red wolf is one of the world’s most endangered wild canids. Once common throughout the southeastern United States, red wolf populations were decimated by the 1960s due to intensive predator control programs and loss of habitat. A remnant population of red wolves was found along the Gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana. After being declared an endangered species in 1973, efforts were initiated to locate and capture as many wild red wolves as possible. Of the 17 remaining wolves captured by biologists, 14 became the founders of a successful captive breeding program. Consequently, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service declared red wolves extinct in the wild in 1980.

By 1987, enough red wolves were bred in captivity to begin a restoration program on Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. Since then, the experimental population area has expanded to include three national wildlife refuges, a Department of Defense bombing range, state-owned lands, and private property, spanning a total of 1.5 million acres.

Visit the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge Red Wolf Recovery page for more information about the wolf recovery program and also for information on how you can go on a red wolf Howling Safari at Alligator River NWR.

Tags:
wildlife, wildlife refuge, red wolves, Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina