Red wolf

The red wolf (Canis rufus) is a canine native to the southeastern United States. It is about the size of a large coyote but smaller than a gray wolf (Canis lupus). For many years, scientists have debated whether the red wolf is its own unique species or if it is a mix of gray wolves and coyotes, called a coywolf. Because of this confusion, the red wolf has sometimes been left off lists of animals that need protection, even though there are very few left.

Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given the red wolf special protection as an endangered species. In 1996, a group of scientists called the IUCN also said the red wolf is Critically Endangered, meaning it is in big danger of disappearing forever. Even though it needs help to survive, the red wolf is not listed in something called the CITES Appendices, which is another list of animals that need protection.

History

Red wolves once lived across the southeastern and south-central United States, from the Atlantic Ocean to central Texas, and from the Ohio River Valley north to Canada. By the mid-1900s, they were nearly gone because of hunting, loss of habitat, and mixing with coyotes. In the 1970s, scientists saved a small group of red wolves in zoos.

These zoo-bred wolves were later released into the wild in North Carolina. For a time, their numbers grew, but then fell again because of lack of protection. Thanks to new efforts, red wolves are making a comeback, with the first wild babies born in 2022. Today, there are about 15 to 17 red wolves living freely in North Carolina.

Description and behavior

The red wolf looks similar to other wolves but is smaller and has a reddish coat. It is about the size of a large coyote, with adults measuring between 136–165 cm (53.5–65 in) in length and weighing from 20 to 39 kg (44–85 lbs). These wolves have long, slender legs and larger ears compared to other similar animals. Their fur ranges from tawny to grayish, often with lighter markings around the lips and eyes.

Red wolves are social animals that mate in January and February, having an average of 6–7 pups each spring. Both parents help raise the young, who leave the den at six weeks and grow to full size by one year. These wolves usually avoid inbreeding by dispersing from their birth packs and forming new pairs with unrelated wolves. Before they disappeared in the wild, red wolves ate small animals like rabbits and rodents. Today, the red wolves in captivity mainly eat white-tailed deer, pigs, raccoons, and other small animals.

Range and habitat

The red wolf originally lived across the southeastern United States, from the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, north to the Ohio River Valley and central Pennsylvania, and west to Central Texas and southeastern Missouri. Scientists have found evidence that their range may have once stretched even further, including parts of Canada.

Red wolves can live in many different kinds of places. They have been found in coastal marshes, swamps, agricultural fields, and forests. In northeastern North Carolina, where red wolves have been brought back to the wild, they live in areas with pine forests and evergreen shrubs. This shows that red wolves can adapt to various environments as long as there is enough food and they are not disturbed by humans.

Captive breeding and reintroduction

After the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was passed, efforts began to save the red wolf from extinction. A captive-breeding program started at the Point Defiance Zoological Gardens, Tacoma, Washington, where animals were captured from Louisiana and Texas. From the 400 captured, only 43 were pure red wolves, and these were used to start the breeding program.

Over time, red wolves have been reintroduced into the wild in several places, including national wildlife refuges in North Carolina and island sites like Horn Island in Mississippi and St. Vincent Island in Florida. These efforts helped grow the population, though challenges remain. Today, there are around 35 red wolves in the wild and about 270 in captivity, with ongoing work to ensure their survival.

Relationship to humans

For a long time, the red wolf has been important in the traditions of the Cherokee spiritual beliefs. The Cherokee people call the red wolf wa'ya (ᏩᏯ) and believe it is a companion to Kana'ti, a hunter and father of the Aniwaya or Wolf Clan. Because of this belief, the Cherokee traditionally avoided killing red wolves, thinking that doing so would bring bad luck from the pack.

Taxonomy

The taxonomic status of the red wolf is debated. It has been described as either a species with a distinct lineage, a recent hybrid of the gray wolf and the coyote, an ancient hybrid of the gray wolf and the coyote which warrants species status, or a distinct species that has undergone recent hybridization with the coyote.

The naturalists John James Audubon and John Bachman were the first to suggest that the wolves of the southern United States were different from wolves in its other regions. In 1851, they recorded the "Black American Wolf" as C. l. var. ater that existed in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Missouri, Louisiana, and northern Texas. They also recorded the "Red Texan Wolf" as C. l. var. rufus that existed from northern Arkansas, through Texas, and into Mexico. In 1912, the zoologist Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. noted that the designation ater was unavailable and recorded these wolves as C. l. floridanus.

In 1937, the zoologist Edward Alphonso Goldman proposed a new species of wolf Canis rufus. Three subspecies of red wolf were originally recognized by Goldman, with two of these subspecies now being extinct. The Florida black wolf (Canis rufus floridanus) (Maine to Florida) has been extinct since 1908 and the Texas red wolf (Canis rufus rufus) (south-central United States) was declared extinct by 1970. By the 1970s, the Mississippi Valley red wolf (Canis rufus gregoryi) existed only in the coastal prairies and marshes of extreme southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. These were removed from the wild to form a captive breeding program and reintroduced into eastern North Carolina in 1987.

In 1967, the zoologists Barbara Lawrence and William H. Bossert believed that the case for classifying C. rufus as a species was based too heavily on the small red wolves of central Texas, from where it was known that there existed hybridization with the coyote. They said that if an adequate number of specimens had been included from Florida, then the separation of C. rufus from C. lupus would have been unlikely. The taxonomic reference Catalogue of Life classifies the red wolf as a subspecies of Canis lupus. The mammalogist W. Christopher Wozencraft, writing in Mammal Species of the World (2005), regards the red wolf as a hybrid of the gray wolf and the coyote, but due to its uncertain status compromised by recognizing it as a subspecies of the gray wolf Canis lupus rufus.

In 2021, the American Society of Mammalogists considered the red wolf as its own species (Canis rufus).

Explanatory footnotes

The red wolf (Canis rufus) is a type of wild dog that lives in the southeastern part of the United States. It is bigger than a coyote but smaller than a gray wolf. Scientists have debated for a long time whether the red wolf is its own special species or if it is a mix between a wolf and a coyote. This discussion helps us understand how animals are related and classified.