Red Wolves are Going Extinct and Chances of Recovery are Extremely Low

Conservation activities are one of the most effective ways to preserve the planet and the lives that inhabit it. Whether they're aimed at saving the oceans, restoring trees, or saving animals, conservation activities are critical to preserving the planet's beauty. On the other hand, conservation attempts occasionally fall short, and in some circumstances, it's too little, too late.

Heather Clarkson, who works for the conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife, says, "The [red wolf] scheme has almost completely crumbled because I've been living here." "The miserable thing is that it took over 20 years to get the initiative to a strong point. Because now it's crashed. Disappointed barely scratches the surface."

The district court for the eastern district of North Carolina ruled in January that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), which had scrapped the red wolf reintroduction program, would restore wolves' release into the wild, after legal action by environmental organizations such as Defenders of Wildlife. The USFWS submitted a revised proposal to the judge earlier this month, and he has allowed the plaintiffs two weeks to file any objections.

USFWS Efforts

The USFWS set out in 1973 to trap as many of the surviving red wolves as possible to create a captive-breeding program, intending to increase the number of red wolves in the wild.

Considered Extinct in the Wild

The red wolf was declared extinct in the wild in 1980. The first reintroduction took place seven years later at the Alligator River national wildlife refuge in North Carolina, covering 60,000 hectares (152,000 acres). A breeding pair was released, and the pack later fostered captive-bred pups.

As many as 130 red wolves were wandering the marshes, swamps, and coastal prairies as recently as 2011. Their reintroduction marked the first time a large carnivore has been considered extinct in the wild in the United States and was later successfully reintroduced.

However, when Clarkson began working on the project in 2016, they were already dealing with "some pretty bad figures." There were only about 60 of them left in the wild.

"I recall learning about the red wolf as a young child in grade school and learning that we are the only place in the world where these wolves exist," says Clarkson, who was born in North Carolina. "Cut to 20 years later, and I'm applying for a career that is a last-ditch attempt to save the species. It's bizarre. "As well as heartbreaking."

Conservation Efforts

Despite controversy about whether the red wolf is a different species, a subspecies, or a hybrid, most scientists now consider it to be a distinct species. They are smaller than their grey relatives, resembling coyotes in scale, and feed mainly on smaller mammals, including raccoons, mice, and rabbits. They are the world's most endangered wolf breed, after being widespread in the eastern and south-central United States until the early 1900s, extending from New York to Louisiana and as far west as Texas.

Their habitat has been degraded as a result of increased urban expansion, which has fragmented their breeding and hunting grounds, as well as hybridization with coyotes. However, today's main challenge is a rivalry with landowners, which has resulted in them being hunted and destroyed.