The red wolf was formerly abundant over the southeastern USA as far west as east-central Texas. By the 1930′s it had been extirpated east of the Mississippi River. By the 1960′s only small populations remained in the coastal areas of southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. In the middle 1970′s, all remaining wild animals were captured and a captive breeding program was initiated to help preserve the species. The species was extinct in the wild by 1980. Red wolves raised in the captive breeding program, starting with 17 red wolves captured in Texas and Louisiana, were re-introduced into eastern North Carolina in 1987. The current re-introduced population of red wolves occupies an area of roughly 6000 sq km (2300 sq mi) on the peninsula in eastern North Carolina between Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. This area is comprised of 60% private land and 40% public land and contains three national wildlife refuges.

From 1991 – 1998 a second re-introduction project was conducted at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. However, the project was terminated, mainly due to a high pup mortality, which was suspected to be caused by disease, predation, malnutrition, and parasites.

Threats and Reasons for Decline:

Reasons for its decline included hunting, poisoning and trapping (because it was perceived as a threat to livestock, and possibly to people), habitat disruption, and competition and hybridization with the coyote.

Hybridization with coyotes, which became well established in northeastern North Carolina during the 1990s, is the primary threat to the current wild species’ existence.

IUCN Status:

• 1960′s – 1994: Endangered
• 1996 – 2003: Critically Endangered (Criteria: D) (IUCN 2003a)
• 2004: Critically Endangered (Criteria: D) (Population Trend: Increasing) (IUCN 2004)

Countries Where the Red Wolf Is Currently Found:

2004: Occurs in re-introduced populations in the USA. May occur in Canada. (IUCN 2004)

Population Estimates:

[Note: Figures given are for wild populations only. After 1990, all populations are re-introduced.]

WORLD (USA)

• First half of the 1900′s: Perhaps numbering in the hundreds of thousands
• 1973: 100
• 1980 – 1987: 0
• 1990: 8
• 1993: 46 – 60
• 2002: At least 100
• 2004: Less than 150

Size and Weight:

Head and body length: 1 – 1.2 m (3.25 – 4′); weight: 18 – 41 kg (40 – 90 lb)

Habitat:

Given their wide historical distribution, red wolves probably utilized a large suite of habitat types at one time. The last naturally occurring population utilized coastal prairie marshes. However, this environment probably does not typify preferred red wolf habitat. There is evidence that the species was found in highest numbers in the once extensive bottomland river forests and swamps of the southeastern USA. Red wolves re-introduced into northeastern North Carolina have utilized habitat types ranging from agricultural lands to forest/wetland mosaics characterized by an overstory of pine and an understory of evergreen shrubs. This suggests that red wolves are habitat generalists and can thrive in most settings where prey populations are adequate and persecution by humans is slight.

Age to Maturity:

22 – 46 months, occasionally 10 months.

Gestation Period:

61 – 63 days.

Birth Season:

Mating occurs from January – April; young are born in the spring.

Birth Rate:

1 – 11 cubs per litter; the average is 6. There is one litter per year.

Early Development:

Weaning occurs at 8 – 10 weeks.

Maximum Age:

Up to 13 years in the wild, 16 years in captivity.

Diet:

In the past, the red wolf had been reported to eat animals up to the size of small deer, including pigs; raccoons; muskrats, nutria, and other rodents; and rabbits. It will also eat carrion.

Analysis of scat of the current, re-introduced wild population of red wolves indicates that white-tailed deer, raccoon and marsh rabbits are primary year-round food items and account for approximately 90% of the weight of food consumed by these wolves. Although some of the deer were probably eaten as carrion, wolf predation of apparently healthy deer has been documented.

Behavior:

Red wolf cubs are born in dens, which can be located in the trunks of hollow trees, stream banks or sand knolls. The dens are either excavated by the wolves or taken over from another animal. The red wolf is primarily nocturnal, but it may increase its daytime activity during the winter. It hunts over a relatively small part of its home range for about 7 – 10 days and then shifts to another area.

Social Organization:

The red wolf is a pack-living animal with a complex social organization, similar to that of the gray wolf. Packs are primarily family groups led by a mated, territorial pair.

Mortality and Survival:

Few individuals survive more than 4 years in the wild. Survival of re-introduced adults through 1993 was about 50% after 3 years

Density and Range:

Home range in southeast Texas was variously reported: 1) to average 44 sq km (17 sq mi) for 7 individuals; 2) to cover 65 – 130 sq km (25 – 50 sq mi) over 1 – 2 years; and 3) to average 78 sq km (30 sq mi) for females and 116.5 sq km (53 sq mi) for males.

The size of home ranges of red wolves in the re-introduced population varied according to habitat. In forested areas consisting of pine/hardwood swamps in various stages of succession, the home range of one pack that included 11 different wolves was about 100 sq km (40 sq mi). In agricultural areas consisting of planted fields interspersed among early to mid-successional fallow fields and pine/hardwood stands, the home ranges of eight lone wolves and four packs involving 30 different wolves measured about 50 sq km (20 sq mi).

In the past, the red wolf had been reported to eat animals up to the size of small deer, including pigs; raccoons; muskrats, nutria, and other rodents; and rabbits. It will also eat carrion. Analysis of scat of the current, re-introduced wild population of red wolves indicates that white-tailed deer, raccoon and marsh rabbits are primary year-round food items. Red wolf cubs are born in dens, which can be located in the trunks of hollow trees, stream banks or sand knolls. The dens are either excavated by the wolves or taken over from another animal. The red wolf is primarily nocturnal, but it may increase its daytime activity during the winter. The red wolf is a pack-living animal with a complex social organization, similar to that of the gray wolf. Packs are primarily family groups led by a mated, territorial pair.
The red wolf’s historic range is now thought not only to have included the southeastern USA but also to have extended further north into the northeastern USA and extreme eastern Canada. The red wolf was formerly abundant over the southeastern USA as far west as east-central Texas. By the 1930′s it had been extirpated east of the Mississippi. By the 1960′s only small populations remained in the coastal areas of southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. In the middle 1970′s, all remaining wild animals were captured and a captive breeding program was initiated. The species was extinct in the wild by 1980. Red wolves raised in the captive breeding program were re-introduced into eastern North Carolina in 1987. Presently, red wolves exist only in a re-introduced population in an area of roughly 6000 sq km (2300 sq mi) on the peninsula in eastern North Carolina between Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.

Reasons for the red wolf’s decline included hunting, poisoning and trapping (because it was perceived as a threat to livestock, and possibly to people), habitat disruption, and competition and hybridization with the coyote. Hybridization with coyotes, which became well established in northeastern North Carolina during the 1990s, is the primary threat to the current wild species’ existence.