Top Ten Questions About Red Wolves
Why reintroduce red wolves (Canis rufus)?
The essential reasons are to prevent extinction of the species and to restore the ecosystems in which red wolves once occurred. 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 over-populations of prey species and removing unhealthy animals.
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act) states that "endangered and threatened species are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people" The Act requires recovery plans for endangered species. The recovery population goal in the Red Wolf Recovery Plan is 550 animals (at least three wild populations totaling 220, and 330 in captivity at 30 or more facilities).
Lessons learned in the Red Wolf Recovery Program have served, and will continue to serve, as a template for recovery of other species whose only hope for survival is reintroduction. The red wolf may also have potential uses in medicine, agriculture, and as an environmental monitor. For example, red wolves seem to be able to live long, healthy lives with heartworms unlike domestic dogs. Could there be something special about the heart of the red wolf that could be useful for dogs or possibly people?
What is the status of the red wolf?
The red wolf is listed as "experimental-nonessential" under the Endangered Species Act. The experimental-nonessential designation allows landowners and biologists greater freedom in the management of the population and individual wolves.
Red wolves range over about one million acres in the wild in northeastern North Carolina that encompasses three wildlife refuges, a Department of Defense Bombing Range, other public lands, and private property. Northeastern North Carolina is the only mainland reintroduction site, although wolves also reside in the wild on two island propagation programs: Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge off the coast of South Carolina, and St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge off the panhandle of Florida. The wild genetically valuable wolves born and raised on the islands are excellent release candidates for the mainland program.
What do red wolves look like?
Red wolves are mostly brown and buff colored with some black along their backs; there is sometimes a reddish color behind their ears, on their muzzle, and toward the backs of their legs. Red wolves are intermediate in size between gray wolves and coyotes (see Red Wolf Photo Page).
Red wolves weigh between 42 to 84 pounds. The average adult female red wolf weighs 52 pounds, and the average adult male weighs 61 pounds. Red wolves have tall, pointed ears and long legs with large feet, similar to the domestic German shepherd. Adult red wolves stand about 26 inches at the shoulder and are about 4.5 feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail.
Red wolves and coyotes, especially young red wolves, can look very similar. Coyotes weigh about one-half to two-thirds as much as red wolves and stand approximately 4 inches shorter. In general, coyotes have a much slighter build through the head, chest, legs, and feet.
What is the original range of the red wolf?
Based on fossil and archaeological evidence, the original red wolf range extended throughout the Southeast, from the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, north to the Ohio River valley and central Pennsylvania, and west to central Texas and southeastern Missouri. At least one archaeological specimen has been found in North Carolina. In addition, court records from eastern North Carolina document that wolf bounties were paid from 1768 to 1789.
Some scientists believe that the red wolf and the gray wolf of Algonquin Park in eastern Canada are the same species. If this proves to be true, the taxonomic status and range information for the red wolf could change!
Do red wolves hybridize with coyotes?
Red wolves, gray wolves, domestic dogs, and coyotes are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. Social structures and territoriality usually prevent such interbreeding. Due to the widespread persecution of predators and the destruction of suitable habitat, by the 1960s the number of red wolves was dwindling, and coyotes had migrated into the Southeast.
When the few remaining red wolves were unable to find mates of their own species, hybridization with more abundant coyotes did occur. This hybridization is generally accepted as the final factor that resulted in the near extinction of the red wolf.
Red wolves and coyotes have been hybridizing in northeastern North Carolina and the Service is addressing the hybridization threat with urgency. Initial estimates indicate that the current red wolf population would be unrecognizable as such within 3-6 generations (12-24 years) if the rates of hybridization currently being controlled actually occurred. The Service is partnering with several agencies and universities to conduct research that will allow for better understanding and hopefully successful management of hybridization based on the best available scientific information.
The current management plan uses a variety of techniques, including sterilizing coyotes and hybrids and augmenting the wolf population, to establish red wolf territories that will exclude coyotes. If this plan is successful, not only will we save the red wolf, but in doing so will control coyotes which traditionally have caused problems for humans and have been troublesome to manage.
Hybridization is not unique to the red wolf. Hybridization seems to threaten a species when they occur in small populations at the same location as similar species such as the gray wolf in eastern Canada with coyotes, the Ethiopian wolf with dogs, and the kit fox with swift fox.
How does the Service keep track of the wolves?
Each red wolf that is captured or released is outfitted with a radio transmitter that emits pulse signals or “beeps” that biologists can read with a radio receiver. These signals enable the biologists to locate the wolves. The frequency of locations varies from once or twice daily to once a week, depending on specific circumstances. Most of the telemetry is done from fixed wing aircraft because the wolves range over such a large area.
The range of the signals (on flat terrain) is about 5 miles in the air and about 1 mile on the ground.
Are red wolves a threat to humans?
Although unlikely to be a threat to humans, red wolves, and all wildlife, should not be approached in order to avoid possible injury to the animals or people involved. Although there has not been a documented attack of a wild red wolf on a person, there have been isolated incidents of gray wolves attacking people. Those attacks, however, have mostly been by wolves that are habituated to humans. Wolves, like bears, can get habituated to humans when they are fed “handouts” by well-meaning visitors. Ultimately, the handouts result in dangerous situations for the animal and the person. Please respect wildlife in wild areas by not approaching or feeding the animals and by following all regulations pertaining to the area.
What do red wolves eat?
Although the exact diet of red wolves is difficult to determine and varies depending on available prey, a study of approximately 2,200 scats (feces) of wild red wolves from northeastern North Carolina estimated that their diet consisted of about 50 percent white tailed deer, 30 percent raccoons, and 20 percent small mammals, such as rabbits, rodents, and nutria. Nonmammalian prey, domestic pets, and livestock were uncommon as prey items, but they did occur in very low numbers (less than 2 percent). A red wolf consumes about two to five pounds of food per day.
Do red wolves live and/or hunt in packs?
A “pack” is simply defined as an extended family unit, which is the primary social structure of both red and gray wolves. A typical red wolf pack consists of five to eight animals--an “alpha” or breeding adult pair and offspring of different years. The alpha wolves are usually the only breeders in the pack; wolves breed once a year.
Wolf packs have specific home ranges that they actively defend against other wolves. The pack is a very closely-knit group; in fact, older offspring assist the alpha pair with den attendance and pup-rearing. Almost all offspring between 1 and 3 years of age will leave the pack or “disperse."
Red wolves are shy and difficult to observe in the wild, so not much is known about how they hunt. However, since the red wolf’s diet does not consist of large ungulates, such as elk, bison, or moose, large group or pack hunting is not necessary.
How large are the red wolves’ territories?
Red wolf pack territories in northeastern North Carolina have varied from as small as 11,000 acres (38 square miles) to as large as 56,000 acres (87 square miles.) The variance may be due to habitat type, prey density, other factors, or a combination.
What happened to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park Program?
The red wolf recovery effort in the Park began in 1991 but was terminated in 1998. Pup survival was critically low with poor nutrition and disease appearing to be the cause. Additionally, wolves were consistently dying or leaving the Park, with lack of prey a likely cause. It was determined that little if any further management efforts would resolve the problems, so in the best interest of the wolves and taxpayers dollars, the program was terminated.
The Red Wolf Coalition
Post Office Box 96
Columbia, North Carolina 27925
252.796.5600/252.796.5601 (FAX)
Email: redwolf@redwolves.com
