Red Wolf

Red Wolf walking

Photograph by John & Karen Hollingsworth / USFWS

       The red wolf is a smaller and a more slender cousin of the gray wolf. It is gray-black, with a reddish cast that gives it the color for which it is named.
       Historically, red wolves ranged throughout the southeastern U.S. from Pennsylvania to Florida and as far west as Texas. Today, wild populations roam more than 1.7 million acres throughout northeastern North Carolina, including Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
       Almost hunted to the brink of extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rounded up fewer than 20 pure red wolves to be bred in captivity in 1980. As of 2007, approximately 207 captive red wolves reside at 38 captive breeding facilities across the United States. Now, more than 50 red wolves currently live in the wild.
      Threats to the red wolf include habitat loss due to human development, negative attitudes that hinder restoration, severe weather, deaths by motor vehicles, and illegal killings. Interbreeding between coyote and red wolf populations has remained a constant threat to the recovery of this species.
      Given that the entire current range of the red wolf in the wild is located in a small coastal area at roughly three feet in elevation, the impacts of climate change, including storm surges and sea level rise, loom large as a threat to their future.

How to Help
     Support will help fight to protect red wolves and other threatened and endangered wildlife. To help endangered red wolves, citizens can symbolically adopt and help save real animals in the wild. They can take action by visiting the Wildlife Action Center to send a message to government leaders. Speak up for wildlife and learn how you can be a powerful advocate for wildlife. Stay informed and sign up to receive instant alerts and updates about important issues affecting wildlife.