How to save the red wolf from going extinct—for a second time

[UngulateNerd92]

After decades of growth, the world’s last population of wild red wolves has plummeted. Can we get back on track and save this critically endangered species?

With a total population below 20 individuals, the world’s most endangered wolf lives only in a small area in and around the Alligator River and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges in eastern North Carolina.

Called “America’s wolf,” the red wolf (Canis rufus) is the only large predator whose historic range is found entirely within the United States, stretching from Texas to New England. But hunting gradually reduced its range, and it was declared extinct in the wild in 1980. In a ground-breaking successful experiment, eight captive wolves were released in 1987 into North Carolina, eventually growing into a population over 100. But poaching and management changes enacted by the Fish and Wildlife Service resulted in their numbers plummeting.

How to prevent the red wolf from going extinct—for a second time

 

[Sheather]

It's past time to let the red wolf go. Let what genes can integrate into the coyote population. This is a species which has proven demonstrably unable to persist in a modern world without constant and expensive oversight by humans, and whose role in the ecosystem is actively being replaced by another related canid that can thrive in a human-altered landscapes. I feel releasing additional captive wolves - which all quickly die - is highly unethical too.

 

[birdsandbats]

It's past time to let the red wolf go. Let what genes can integrate into the coyote population. This is a species which has proven demonstrably unable to persist in a modern world without constant and expensive oversight by humans, and whose role in the ecosystem is actively being replaced by another related canid that can thrive in a human-altered landscapes. I feel releasing additional captive wolves - which all quickly die - is highly unethical too.

The Red Wolf would do fine if it wasn't for North Carolina trying to exterminate them.

Coyotes and Red Wolves fill a very different niche - "letting the Red Wolf go" would not be good for all those environments current experiencing overpopulation of deer and boar.

 

[Pleistohorse]

The Red Wolf would do fine if it wasn't for North Carolina trying to exterminate them.

Coyotes and Red Wolves fill a very different niche - "letting the Red Wolf go" would not be good for all those environments current experiencing overpopulation of deer and boar.

I’m not sure this is entirely accurate giving the emergence of the “Eastern Coyote” and the Coyote’s expansion into the south-east and the lack of interbreeding between Coyotes and Grey Wolves.

I wonder if Red Wolves released in select areas might establish genetic bastions and contribute their genes to the local Coyote populations allowing the persistence of the animal in the form of a better adapted hybrid species. The only real hope for the Red Wolf in is present form…might just be continuous releases and heavy management on island habitats free of Coyotes or where Coyotes remain relatively uncommon (similar to past experimental or conservation breeding populations in Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina…) say eastern Long Island. A heavily managed population might be able to make it there.

For the heretic…using the Red Wolf as a proxy for extinct native Wolves on Honshu, Great Britain, and Eire would be my suggestion. You reintroduce an animal which can survive just fine in disturbed habitats without Coyotes and is suitable to the prey species present…(however currently unfamiliar with a Wolf sized canid those prey species will prove to be…aside from some probable harassment by feral/free ranging domestic dogs), while also preserving the Red Wolf in its present form completely free of Coyotes, Jackals, or Grey Wolves.

I don’t believe that there is a Red Wolf on earth without some Coyote heritage…and not many Coyotes in SE Texas or SW Louisiana without some Red Wolf ancestry.

For the truly blasphemous…I’d recommend Kodiak and Hawaii…or maybe the Falklands and Tierra del Fuego.

 

[Lisa Griffis]

After decades of growth, the world’s last population of wild red wolves has plummeted. Can we get back on track and save this critically endangered species?

With a total population below 20 individuals, the world’s most endangered wolf lives only in a small area in and around the Alligator River and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges in eastern North Carolina.

Called “America’s wolf,” the red wolf (Canis rufus) is the only large predator whose historic range is found entirely within the United States, stretching from Texas to New England. But hunting gradually reduced its range, and it was declared extinct in the wild in 1980. In a ground-breaking successful experiment, eight captive wolves were released in 1987 into North Carolina, eventually growing into a population over 100. But poaching and management changes enacted by the Fish and Wildlife Service resulted in their numbers plummeting.

How to prevent the red wolf from going extinct—for a second time

I found out two areas where the red wolves have been seen, one being managed: St . Vincent Island off the coast of Florida. The park is isolated and only accessible by ferry for day use. I was on a road trip but with my dog and could not take her (a wise rule to avoid diseases.) I hope to get back. I did talk to the park ranger and he was very positive about their survival. I see lack of genetic diversity as a problem, so I hope they can introduce outside animals to the pack. Galveston Island has found a few but I doubt their numbers will survive.