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71-528: In the 1800s the red wolf was abundant in the Southeastern United States including South Carolina. However, by the mid-1960s, efforts of trappers, hunters, and farmers— combined with the destruction of natural habitat— nearly wiped out the population. Only a few wolves remained in Texas and Louisiana . To protect the red wolf, they were taken into captivity, and by 1980, were extinct in the wild. Within

142-682: A U.S. Air Force bombing range, and private land. The red wolf recovery program is unique for a large carnivore reintroduction in that more than half of the land used for reintroduction lies on private property. Approximately 680,000 acres (2,800 km ) are federal and state lands, and 1,002,000 acres (4,050 km ) are private lands. Beginning in 1991, red wolves were also released into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee. However, due to exposure to environmental disease (parvovirus), parasites, and competition (with coyotes as well as intraspecific aggression),

213-595: A different population from the red wolves in the North Carolina captive breeding program, there has been a proposal to selectively cross-breed the Galveston Island coyotes into the captive red wolf population. Another study published around the same time analyzing canid scat and hair samples in southwestern Louisiana found genetic evidence of red wolf ancestry in about 55% of sampled canids, with one such individual having between 78 and 100% red wolf ancestry, suggesting

284-599: A landowner shot and killed a female red wolf after being authorized a take permit, causing a public outcry. In response, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit against the USFWS for violating the Endangered Species Act. By 2016, the red wolf population of North Carolina had declined to 45–60 wolves. The largest cause of this decline was gunshot. In June 2018, the USFWS announced

355-420: A litter of pups in the wild. On March 1, 2021, two male red wolves from Florida were paired with two female wild red wolves from eastern North Carolina and released into the wild. One of the male wolves was killed by a car shortly after being released into the wild. On April 30 and May 1, four adult red wolves were released into the wild and four red wolf pups were fostered by a wild female red wolf. In addition to

426-441: A proposal that would limit the wolves' safe range to only Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, where only about 35 wolves remain, thus allowing hunting on private land. In November 2018, Chief Judge Terrence W. Boyle found that the USFWS had violated its congressional mandate to protect the red wolf, and ruled that USFWS had no power to give landowners the right to shoot them. Since before European colonization of

497-588: A safer area on the island. Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge is the site of two surviving historic lighthouses which still remain on the refuge, both on Lighthouse Island. The Cape Romain Lighthouses are on the National Register of Historic Places. Bull Island is at 4,900 acres (20 km) the largest of the barrier islands that are part of the refuge. A regular ferry service to Bull Island

568-467: A separate species has been contentious for nearly a century, being classified either as a subspecies of the gray wolf Canis lupus rufus , or a coywolf (a genetic admixture of wolf and coyote). Because of this, it is sometimes excluded from endangered species lists, despite its critically low numbers. Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 , the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes

639-414: A total of six red wolves had been killed, including the four adults that had been released in the spring. Three of the released adults had been killed in vehicle collisions, two had died from unknown cases, and the fourth released adult had been shot by a landowner who feared the wolf was attempting to get his chickens. These losses dropped the number of wolves in the wild down to about 20 wild individuals. In

710-517: Is avoided because it results in progeny with reduced fitness ( inbreeding depression ) that is predominantly caused by the homozygous expression of recessive deleterious alleles. Prior to its extinction in the wild, the red wolf's diet consisted of rabbits, rodents, and nutria (an introduced species). In contrast, the red wolves from the restored population rely on white-tailed deer , pig , raccoon , rice rats , muskrats , nutria, rabbits and carrion . White-tailed deer were largely absent from

781-418: Is due to the introduction of invasive species . Invasive species invade and exploit a new habitat for its natural resources as a method to outcompete the native organisms, eventually taking over the habitat. This can lead to either the native species' extinction or causing them to become endangered, which also eventually causes extinction. Plants and animals may also go extinct due to disease. The introduction of

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852-488: Is provided by a private charter service at Garris Landing. The Island was the site of a third lighthouse, Bulls Bay Light which was deactivated in 1913 and lost to the sea years ago. The island also has Boneyard Beach, a beach where a forest has been encroached on by the sea. The Sewee Center features displays about the various ecosystems, wildlife and heritage of the South Carolina Lowcountry . Exhibits include

923-430: Is slight. In 1940, the biologist Stanley P. Young noted that the red wolf was still common in eastern Texas, where more than 800 had been caught in 1939 because of their attacks on livestock. He did not believe that they could be exterminated because of their habit of living concealed in thickets. In 1962 a study of skull morphology of wild Canis in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas indicated that

994-689: Is the Friends Group for the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and for the Francis Marion National Forest. The SEWEE Association supports the education and conservation activities for the refuge and the forest. Red wolf The red wolf ( Canis rufus ) is a canine native to the southeastern United States . Its size is intermediate between the coyote ( Canis latrans ) and gray wolf ( Canis lupus ). The red wolf's taxonomic classification as being

1065-592: Is typical of the genus Canis , and is generally intermediate in size between the coyote and gray wolf, though some specimens may overlap in size with small gray wolves. A study of Canis morphometrics conducted in eastern North Carolina reported that red wolves are morphometrically distinct from coyotes and hybrids. Adults measure 136–165 cm (53.5–65 in) in length, comprising a tail of about 37 cm (14.6 in). Their weight ranges from 20 to 39 kg (44–85 lbs) with males averaging 29 kg (64 lbs) and females 25 kg (55 lbs). Its pelage

1136-433: Is typically more reddish and sparsely furred than the coyote's and gray wolf's, though melanistic individuals do occur. Its fur is generally tawny to grayish in color, with light markings around the lips and eyes. The red wolf has been compared by some authors to the greyhound in general form, owing to its relatively long and slender limbs. The ears are also proportionately larger than the coyote's and gray wolf's. The skull

1207-458: Is typically narrow, with a long and slender rostrum , a small braincase and a well developed sagittal crest . Its cerebellum is unlike that of other Canis species, being closer in form to that of canids of the Vulpes and Urocyon genera , thus indicating that the red wolf is one of the more plesiomorphic members of its genus. The red wolf is more sociable than the coyote, but less so than

1278-561: The Gulf Coast of western Louisiana and eastern Texas . Fourteen of these survivors were selected to be the founders of a captive-bred population, which was established in the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium between 1974 and 1980. After a successful experimental relocation to Bulls Island off the coast of South Carolina in 1978, the red wolf was declared extinct in the wild in 1980 so that restoration efforts could proceed. In 1987,

1349-523: The Mississippi Valley red wolf ( Canis rufus gregoryi ) (south-central United States) was declared extinct by 1980. By the 1970s, the Texas red wolf ( Canis rufus rufus ) 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,

1420-475: The Point Defiance Zoological Gardens, Tacoma, Washington . Four hundred animals were captured from southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas from 1973 to 1980 by the USFWS. Measurements, vocalization analyses, and skull X-rays were used to distinguish red wolves from coyotes and red wolf × coyote hybrids. Of the 400 canids captured, only 43 were believed to be red wolves and sent to

1491-620: The US Fish and Wildlife Service , the population has declined to 40 individuals in 2018, about 14 in 2019 and 8 as of October 2021. No wild litters were born between 2019 and 2020. Under pressure from conservation groups, the US Fish and Wildlife Service resumed reintroductions in 2021 and increased protection. In 2022, the first wild litter was born since 2018. As of 2023, there are between 15 and 17 wild red wolves in ARNWR. The red wolf's appearance

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1562-517: The breeding pairs of adult red wolves produced a litter of six wolf pups, four females and two males. This new litter of red wolf pups became the first litter born in the wild since 2018. As of 2023, there are between 15 and 17 wild red wolves in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. In April and May 2023, two captive male red wolves were paired with two wild female wolves in acclimation pens and were later released into

1633-567: The loss of biodiversity . This is along with natural forces that may create stress on the species or cause an animal population to become extinct. Currently the biggest reason for species extinction is human interaction resulting in habitat loss. Species rely on their habitat for the resources needed for their survival. If the habitat becomes destroyed, the population will see a decline in their numbers. Activities that cause loss of habitat include pollution , urbanization , and agriculture . Another reason for plants and animals to become endangered

1704-674: 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. Research into paleontological, archaeological and historical specimens of red wolves by Ronald Nowak expanded their known range to include land south of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada, along the eastern seaboard, and west to Missouri and mid-Illinois, terminating in

1775-490: The "Threatened" category. As the IUCN Red List does not consider a species extinct until extensive targeted surveys have been conducted, species that are possibly extinct are still listed as Critically Endangered. IUCN maintains a list of "possibly extinct" and "possibly extinct in the wild" species, modelled on categories used by BirdLife International to categorize these taxa . To be defined as Critically Endangered in

1846-555: The Americas , the red wolf has featured prominently in Cherokee spiritual beliefs , where it is known as wa'ya (ᏩᏯ), and is said to be the companion of Kana'ti - the hunter and father of the Aniwaya or Wolf Clan. Traditionally, Cherokee people generally avoid killing red wolves, as such an act is believed to bring about the vengeance of the killed animals' pack-mates. The taxonomic status of

1917-475: The Red List, a species must meet any of the following criteria (A–E) ("3G/10Y" signifies three generations or ten years—whichever is longer—over a maximum of 100 years; "MI" signifies Mature Individuals): The current extinction crisis is witnessing extinction rates that are occurring at a faster rate than that of the natural extinction rate. It has largely been credited towards human impacts on climate change and

1988-456: The USFWS ceased implementing the red wolf adaptive management plan that was responsible for preventing red wolf hybridization with coyotes and allowed the release of captive-born red wolves into the wild population. Since then, the wild population has decreased from 100–115 red wolves to less than 30. Despite the controversy over the red wolf's status as a unique taxon as well as the USFWS' apparent disinterest towards wolf conservation in

2059-464: The breeding facility. The first litters were produced in captivity in May ;1977. Some of the pups were determined to be hybrids, and they and their parents were removed from the program. Of the original 43 animals, only 17 were considered pure red wolves and since three were unable to breed, 14 became the breeding stock for the captive-breeding program. These 14 were so closely related that they had

2130-698: The captive animals were released into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR) on the Albemarle Peninsula in North Carolina , with a second unsuccessful release taking place two years later in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park . Of 63 red wolves released from 1987 to 1994, the population rose to as many as 100–120 individuals in 2012, but due to the lack of regulation enforcement by

2201-464: The coastal islands in Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina as part of the captive breeding management plan. St. Vincent Island in Florida is currently the only active island propagation site. After the passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 , formal efforts backed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began to save the red wolf from extinction, when a captive-breeding program was established at

Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge - Misplaced Pages Continue

2272-583: The coyote's range was limited to the western half of the continent. They existed in the arid areas and across the open plains, including the prairie regions of the midwestern states. Early explorers found some in Indiana and Wisconsin. From the mid-1800s onward, coyotes began expanding beyond their original range. The taxonomic debate regarding North American wolves can be summarised as follows: There are two prevailing evolutionary models for North American Canis : and The paleontologist Ronald M. Nowak notes that

2343-528: The debate. Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List Critically Endangered ( CR or sometimes CE ) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of the 157,190 species currently on the IUCN Red List, 9,760 of those are listed as Critically Endangered, with 1,302 being possibly extinct and 67 possibly extinct in

2414-583: The decade, captors of the red wolf were looking to reestablish the red wolf's territory. In 1987, red wolves were released in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina , Bull Island in South Carolina , Horn Island in Mississippi , and St. Vincent Island in Florida . Established in 1932 as a haven for migratory birds , Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge is additionally managed for

2485-425: The eight released wolves, the total number of red wolves living in the wild amount to nearly thirty wild individuals, including a dozen other wolves not wearing radio collars. A study published in 2020 reported camera traps recorded "the presence of a large canid possessing wolf-like characters" in northeast Texas and later hair samples and tracks from the area indicated the presence of red wolves. By fall of 2021,

2556-532: The five-county restoration area in eastern North Carolina. A 2014 court-approved settlement agreement was reached that banned nighttime hunting of coyotes and requires permitting and reporting coyote hunting. In response to the settlement, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission adopted a resolution requesting the USFWS to remove all wild red wolves from private lands, terminate recovery efforts, and declare red wolves extinct in

2627-806: The future. These sites were chosen based on prey levels, isolation from coyotes and human development, and connectivity with other sites. These sites include: the Apalachicola and Osceola National Forests along with the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and nearby protected lands; numerous national parks and national forests in the Appalachian Mountains including the Monongahela , George Washington & Jefferson , Cherokee , Pisgah , Nantahala , Chattahoochee , and Talladega National Forests along with Shenandoah National Park and

2698-455: The genetic effect of being only eight individuals. In 1996, the red wolf was listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a critically endangered species . Over 30 facilities participate in the red wolf Species Survival Plan and oversee the breeding and reintroduction of over 150 wolves. In 2007, the USFWS estimated that 300 red wolves remained in the world, with 207 of those in captivity. By late 2020,

2769-428: The genus Canis ' natural history, Xiaoming Wang , looked at red wolf fossil material but could not state if it was, or was not, a separate species. He said that Nowak had put together more morphometric data on red wolves than anybody else, but Nowak's statistical analysis of the data revealed a red wolf that is difficult to deal with. Wang proposes that studies of ancient DNA taken from fossils might help settle

2840-629: The gray wolf. It mates in January–February, with an average of 6–7 pups being born in March, April, and May. It is monogamous, with both parents participating in the rearing of young. Denning sites include hollow tree trunks, along stream banks and the abandoned earths of other animals. By the age of six weeks, the pups distance themselves from the den, and reach full size at the age of one year, becoming sexually mature two years later. Using long-term data on red wolf individuals of known pedigree, it

2911-615: The last wild refuge of red wolves on the Gulf Coast between Texas and Louisiana (where specimens were trapped from the last wild population for captive breeding), which likely accounts for the discrepancy in their dietary habits listed here. Historical accounts of wolves in the southeast by early explorers such as William Hilton , who sailed along the Cape Fear River in what is now North Carolina in 1644, also note that they ate deer. The originally recognized red wolf range extended throughout

Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge - Misplaced Pages Continue

2982-447: The long-term persistence of the population. The report stated that the USFWS needed to update its red wolf recovery plan, thoroughly evaluate its strategy for preventing coyote hybridization and increase its public outreach. In 2014, the USFWS issued the first take permit for a red wolf to a private landowner. Since then, the USFWS issued several other take permits to landowners in the five-county restoration area. During June 2015,

3053-550: The lower elevations of Great Smoky Mountains National Park ; Croatoan National Forest and Hofmann Forest on the North Carolina coast, and the Ozark , Ouatchita , and Mark Twain National Forests in the central United States . In late 2018, two canids that are largely coyote were found on Galveston Island , Texas with red wolf alleles (gene expressions) left from a ghost population of red wolves. Since these alleles are from

3124-639: The main factor limiting wolf dispersal westward from the RWEPA. High anthropogenic wolf mortality similarly limits expansion of eastern wolves outside of protected areas in south-eastern Canada. In 2012, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission for jeopardizing the existence of the wild red wolf population by allowing nighttime hunting of coyotes in

3195-472: The marine ecosystems of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and the forest Center. Other facilities include a classroom/lab, an auditorium with an orientation film, information station, a book store, picnic area and trails. The Center is jointly operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service , and offers nature education programs and activities. The South Eastern Wildlife and Environment Education Association (SEWEE Association)

3266-575: The number of wild individuals had shrunk to only about 7 radio-collared and a dozen uncollared individuals, with no wild pups born since 2018. This decline has been linked to shooting and poisoning of wolves by landowners, and suspended conservation efforts by the USFWS. A 2019 analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity of available habitat throughout the red wolf's former range found that over 20,000 square miles of public land across five sites had viable habitat for red wolves to be reintroduced to in

3337-435: The oldest fossil remains of the red wolf are 10,000 years old and were found in Florida near Melbourne , Brevard County , Withlacoochee River, Citrus County , and Devil's Den Cave , Levy County . He notes that there are only a few, but questionable, fossil remains of the gray wolf found in the southeastern states. He proposes that following the extinction of the dire wolf , the coyote appears to have been displaced from

3408-454: The once extensive bottom-land river forests and swamps of the southeastern United States. Red wolves reintroduced into northeastern North Carolina have used 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

3479-445: The possibility of more red wolf genes in the wild that may not be present in the captive population. From 2015 to 2019, there were no red wolves released into the wild. But in March 2020, the FWS released a new breeding pair of red wolves, including a young male red wolf from St. Vincent Island, Florida into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The pair were unsuccessful at producing

3550-515: The protection of threatened and endangered species such as the loggerhead sea turtle , wood stork , and piping plover . Every year loggerhead sea turtles bury their eggs on three of the refuge's barrier islands. The refuge supports approximately 23% of the northern subpopulation of loggerhead sea turtles, the largest north of Florida. For the past 30 years refuge employees have helped loggerhead turtles survive by identifying nests that are in areas subject to overwash and inundation, and moving them to

3621-661: 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 ). When European settlers first arrived to North America,

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3692-583: The red wolf as an endangered species and grants it protected status. Since 1996, the IUCN has listed the red wolf as a Critically Endangered species; however, it is not listed in the CITES Appendices of endangered species. Red wolves were once distributed throughout the southeastern and south-central United States from the Atlantic Ocean to central Texas, southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Illinois in

3763-586: The red wolf existed in only a few populations due to hybridization with the coyote. The explanation was that either the red wolf could not adapt to changes to its environment due to human land-use along with its accompanying influx of competing coyotes from the west, or that the red wolf was being hybridized out of existence by the coyote. Since 1987, red wolves have been released into northeastern North Carolina, where they roam 1.7 million acres. These lands span five counties (Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington, and Beaufort) and include three national wildlife refuges,

3834-408: 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

3905-428: The red wolf was unable to successfully establish a wild population in the park. Low prey density was also a problem, forcing the wolves to leave the park boundaries in pursuit of food in lower elevations. In 1998, the FWS took away the remaining red wolves in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, relocating them to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina. Other red wolves have been released on

3976-422: The restoration of red wolves. Efforts to reduce the threats are presently being explored. By 1999, introgression of coyote genes was recognized as the single greatest threat to wild red wolf recovery and an adaptive management plan which included coyote sterilization has been successful, with coyote genes being reduced by 2015 to less than 4% of the wild red wolf population. Since the 2014 programmatic review,

4047-462: The southeastern US by the red wolf until the last century, when the extirpation of wolves allowed the coyote to expand its range. He also proposes that the ancestor of all North American and Eurasian wolves was C. mosbachensis , which lived in the Middle Pleistocene 700,000–300,000 years ago. C. mosbachensis was a wolf that once lived across Eurasia before going extinct. It

4118-432: 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

4189-429: The southern latitudes of Central Texas. Given their wide historical distribution, red wolves probably used a large suite of habitat types at one time. The last naturally occurring population used coastal prairie marshes, swamps, and agricultural fields used to grow rice and cotton. However, this environment probably does not typify preferred red wolf habitat. Some evidence shows the species was found in highest numbers in

4260-557: The west, and in the north from the Ohio River Valley , northern Pennsylvania , southern New York , and extreme southern Ontario in Canada south to the Gulf of Mexico . The red wolf was nearly driven to extinction by the mid-1900s due to aggressive predator-control programs, habitat destruction , and extensive hybridization with coyotes . By the late 1960s, it occurred in small numbers in

4331-433: The wild . The IUCN Red List provides the public with information regarding the conservation status of animal, fungi, and plant species. It divides various species into seven different categories of conservation that are based on habitat range, population size, habitat, threats, etc. Each category represents a different level of global extinction risk. Species that are considered to be Critically Endangered are placed within

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4402-540: The wild in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Tyrrell County. One family consisted of a breeding pair and three pups, while the other consisted of a breeding pair, a yearling female, and four young pups that were born in the acclamation pen. In early June 2023, the two families of red wolves were released into the wild to roam through PLNWR. With the addition of these two separate packs,

4473-553: The wild population of red wolves had increased to about 35 wild individuals. In addition to the wild population, there are approximately 270 red wolves in zoos and captive breeding programs across the U.S. Interbreeding with the coyote has been recognized as a threat affecting the restoration of red wolves. Adaptive management efforts are making progress in reducing the threat of coyotes to the red wolf population in northeastern North Carolina. Other threats, such as habitat fragmentation, disease, and human-caused mortality, are of concern in

4544-526: The wild, the vast majority of public comments (including NC residents) submitted to the USFWS in 2017 over their new wolf management plan were in favor of the original wild conservation plan. A 2016 genetic study of canid scats found that despite high coyote density inside the Red Wolf Experimental Population Area (RWEPA), hybridization occurs rarely (4% are hybrids). High wolf mortality related to anthropogenic causes appeared to be

4615-400: The wild. This resolution came in the wake of a 2014 programmatic review of the red wolf conservation program conducted by The Wildlife Management Institute. The Wildlife Management Institute indicated the reintroduction of the red wolf was an incredible achievement. The report indicated that red wolves could be released and survive in the wild, but that illegal killing of red wolves threatens

4686-599: The wild. At the same time, the wild breeding pair that produced a litter of pups the previous year gave birth to a second litter of 5 pups, 2 males and 3 females. A male wolf pup from a captive litter was fostered into the pack, and with this new addition, the family of red wolves, which was named the Milltail pack by FWS, has grown to 13 wild individuals. These six new pups has brought the wild population of red wolves up to 23–25 wild individuals. In May 2023, two families of red wolves were placed in acclamation pens to be released into

4757-534: The winter of 2021–2022, the Fish and Wildlife Services selected nine captive adult red wolves to be released into the wild. A family of five red wolves were released into the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, while two new breeding pairs of adult wolves were released into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The release of these new wolves brought the number of wild red wolves in eastern North Carolina up to less than 30 wild individuals. On April 22, 2022, one of

4828-468: 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

4899-488: 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

4970-407: Was found that inbreeding among first-degree relatives was rare. A likely mechanism for avoidance of inbreeding is independent dispersal trajectories from the natal pack. Many of the young wolves spend time alone or in small non-breeding packs composed of unrelated individuals. The union of two unrelated individuals in a new home range is the predominant pattern of breeding pair formation. Inbreeding

5041-485: Was smaller than most North American wolf populations and smaller than C. rufus , and has been described as being similar in size to the small Indian wolf , Canis lupus pallipes . He further proposes that C. mosbachensis invaded North America where it became isolated by the later glaciation and there gave rise to C. rufus . In Eurasia, C. mosbachensis evolved into C. lupus , which later invaded North America. The paleontologist and expert on

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