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Red Wolf Restoration:
A 20-Year Journey
by Diane Hendry
Fall 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the first release of red
wolves back into the wild in northeastern North Carolina. A look
at the "early days" of the red wolf's journey provides perspective
on the triumphant story of Canis rufus.
Red Wolf FAQ
by Steve Grooms
What is a red wolf? Where did red wolves originally live? What
does a red wolf look like? Learn the answers to these questions
and more important facts about these beautiful creatures.
Return to the Wild: The Cliff-hanger Story of Red Wolf Recovery
by Steve Grooms
The red wolf program has been a lot like an Indiana Jones cliff-hanger
film, full of narrow escapes. Today, in spite of all the close
brushes with extinction, the red wolf is still with us.
Free to Wander
by David R. Rabon Jr.
Twenty years ago eight red wolves were released into the wilds of
northeastern North Carolina. Their release, the first reintroduction
of a carnivore that had been declared extinct in the wild,
solidified the red wolf's place in the history books.
by Kim Wheeler
"What does the Red Wolf Coalition do?" I am frequently asked that
question, and there's no better way to begin an answer than with
the organization's mission statement: The Red Wolf Coalition
advocates for the long-term survival of red wolf populations by
teaching about the red wolf and by fostering public involvement
in red wolf conservation. Seems clear to me, but what exactly is
an advocate? What does an advocate do?
by Walter Medwid
Milestones matter. Without them we lose perspective and the
relevance of the milestone to our day-to-day work. Marking 20 years
of red wolf recovery in the wilds of North Carolina is surely a
conservation milestone that deserves reflection. Perhaps foremost
we should take the moment to celebrate the decision to save a
species from extinction. Can there be any higher calling than
saving from oblivion a fellow passenger on spaceship earth? The
Red Wolf Recovery Program also paved the way through its practices
and personnel to further wolf recovery in other parts of the
country, nowhere more so than in Yellowstone National Park.
These successes, in turn, have given other species recovery programs
around the globe reason to be optimistic that their work can be
accomplished too.
Captive Wolf Management: Socialized versus Non-socialized
by Lori Schmidt, Wolf Curator, International Wolf Center
The International Wolf Center's resident wolves are true ambassadors,
enchanting visitors who view them in their spacious wooded habitat.
A Web cam enables Web site (www.wolf.org) visitors to "track the pack" online.
Hunter Education and Red Wolf Restoration
by David Denton
North Carolina has a long heritage of hunting, and in the state's
more rural areas, it's a way of life. Of the many species hunted
in North Carolina, the coyote is becoming a favorite among sportsmen
because of the challenge of hunting a top predator. A few sportsmen
now hunt specifically for these wily critters. But by far, most of
the coyotes harvested in the state are taken as an incidental prize
while hunting another species.
The Bulls Boys
by Michael L . Morse
You never forget the first time a wild wolf responds to your howls,
offered into the dark night. But my first attempt was even more
memorable because, not being an accomplished howler, I finished
with a series of uncontrollable coughs-to the great amusement of
the senior wolf biologists. Everyone stopped laughing, though, when
the two newly released red wolf brothers returned my howl. Although
my vocal cords felt scorched, the swelling sensation in my chest
and mind made all else insignificant.
Checked Out by a Wolf!
by Art Beyer
Ilearned early in my career as a field biologist that observing
red wolves in the wild is difficult. As a volunteer in 1989, I
felt I knew each pack inside and out from daily tracking, but I
had yet to see a wolf during my first three months in the recovery
area because of the flat terrain and thick vegetation. Even now,
aside from the times we remove a wolf from a trap or sneak up on
one to get a sighting or to locate a den, we just don't see them.
Occasionally I'll spot wolves during telemetry flights. I've
watched adults chasing deer and pups playing together, and once I
watched a wolf chasing off a couple of dogs that had wondered too
close to its den. However, even from the air it is difficult to
see much detail because of the vegetation.
Bombing Range Balloons
by Chris Lucash
Red wolf whelping season is a brief period each spring that the
field biologists both look forward to and dread. This stage of the
wolves' biological cycle is the payoff for our work throughout the
rest of the year. It holds the promise of a new wolf generation
and foretells, in part, the future status of the population. An
annual, critical first step in monitoring and managing the red
wolf population occurs at the dens. It sounds deceptively quick
and simple: track to the breeding female's radio collar, find the
pups, take a drop of blood from each for a genetic record and
pedigree confirmation, and insert a tiny transponder chip under
each pup's skin for lifelong instant identification.
Back from the Brink
of Extinction: The Red Wolf Species Survival Program
by Will Waddell
Acritical step in the red wolf's journey from near extinction to
reintroduction in northeastern North Carolina was initiating a
managed breeding program. Without this effort, securing the red
wolf's future would have been doubtful.
Red Wolf Learning Resources
A Sampling for Teachers, Non-formal Educators, Parents and Students
by Mark MacAllister
Education is an important component of red wolf recovery. Several
organizations have developed high-quality learning materials and
offer them in a variety of formats.
A Look Beyond
by Bud Fazio
The journey of the red wolf is extraordinary. Going from top predator
for 10,000 years in eastern and southeastern North America to
"extinct in the wild" by 1980, the resilient red wolf has made
an astonishing comeback since 1987. Red wolves again roam and howl
in the wild, and we celebrate the 20th anniversary year of
restoration. Hard work by veteran field biologists and captive
breeding program specialists have established one wild red wolf
population in North Carolina and a captive breeding population
comprised of many facilities across the United States. New
techniques such as pup fostering have been developed and implemented.
We all have reason to be proud.
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