The endangered red wolf population is rebounding through a breeding program

PIEN HUANG, EDITOR:

These days there is cautious optimism among wildlife experts working to save the endangered red wolf. Progress in rebuilding the wolf population has been slow, but after several years of setbacks, it may be headed in the right direction. From member station WUNC in Raleigh, Elizabeth Friend reports.

ELIZABETH FRIEND, BY NOTE: Twice a day, a group of veterinary students take a field trip to a secluded area on the campus of North Carolina State University to take care of several red wolves.

(SOUNDBITE OF WOLVES HOWING)

FRIEND: Sometimes, they catch wolves howling with sirens or local coyotes, like this video recorded last year. But on this hot day, the wolves are very quiet. The pack has five adults, and since spring, two cubs. They are the first humans born here since 2019. Wolves live in a large, wooded area. That place is the secret to protecting them from abuse and keeping them as wild as possible.

SEAN HUBBARD: We’re trying to minimize how much contact these wolves have with humans. The most that they will see on a regular shift where we are going out and feed is two.

FRIEND: I’m Sean Hubbard, co-founder of the Canine Conservation Crew. A group of student volunteers are charged with caring for some of the world’s most endangered wolves. Hubbard said red wolves roamed from New York to Florida throughout the American Southeast.

HUBBARD: But when the Europeans came, they were hunted to near extinction, like the blue wolf. And that was when there were only a few people left who could be known as a red wolf in the 1970s.

FRIEND: Starting with just 14 red wolves, biologists began a captive breeding program to try to save the species, which was declared extinct in the wild in 1980. Now, there are about 300 red wolves living in captivity. NC State’s wolves are part of a statewide effort to increase the population and restore the species to the wild. Another student took a stone of food. Red wolves appear quietly between the trees.

HUBBARD: They’re well hidden. Those coats are perfect for our local forests.

FRIEND: The puppies born here are part of the baby’s development. In the past two years, inmate reproduction programs across the country have produced nearly 100 new children. It’s a big deal. Those new secrets will help keep the species alive. Ultimately, the goal is to return as many as possible to the wild.

JOE MADISON: We don’t have acres and acres of pristine, untouched wilderness.

FRIEND: I’m Joe Madison with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. He controls the red wolf population in a five-county area in eastern North Carolina, the only place in the world where they still roam freely. The countryside is a mixture of swamps, fields and forests.

MADISON: Red wolves tend to be in open farmland or open spaces because that’s where most of the prey is.

FRIEND: Madison estimates there are only 16 wild wolves in eastern North Carolina right now. But they are new residents, and they have a litter. However, they are always at risk of being hit by cars or being mistaken for coyotes, which are too small to be hunted. Madison says they are trying to communicate with those who live near the wolf’s location.

MADISON: People don’t have to like red wolves. It’s about getting people to tolerate their presence in their place, you know?

FRIEND: The success of the captive breeding program, as well as the small but significant gains in the wild population, are renewing hope for the future of this species. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has a new long-term plan, and if it works, the red wolf could be removed from the endangered species list for up to 50 years. For NPR News, I Friend of Elizabeth of Raleigh, NC

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