The Red Wolf

Wolves are the largest members of the dog family. Although we know from our fairy tales that wolves are villains (think of The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf), wolves aren't really that big or bad. Wolves are natural predators that hunt and eat other animals; it doesn't matter that they are from the dog family, they must never be treated as pets. They are wild animals. This is their nature.

The Red Wolf is unusual because this species actually became extinct in the wild in 1980. It was the top predator in the Southeastern United States. Hunting and the clearing of the forests where the Red Wolf roamed reduced the entire population of the animal to just 17 wolves in 1980!
The Red Wolf has a brownish, cinnamon-colored fur with black and gray on the back and tail. Its muzzle has white fur around the lips. Their ears are larger in size than regular wolves. Their jaws are powerful, which can bite through most animal hides. The Red Wolf usually hunts at night, dawn or dusk in a pack, a group of 20 or so wolves. It is almost exclusively a meat-eater, feasting on deer, sheep, goats, rabbits and rodents. Unlike the Gray Wolf, the Red Wolf has not been recorded to attack people.A Red Wolf will travel up to 20 miles to search for food.

Once practically extinct, the Red Wolf has been put on the CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES list. Thanks to scientists and conservationists who believed in the importance of bringing back and nurturing back the Red Wolf, there are thought to be some 300 Red Wolves in the world, with most of them in captivity.

Some new threats to the Red Wolf species include:

1. Presence of coyotes - Interbreeding with coyotes threaten the Red Wolf recovery program. Conservationists want to keep the Red Wolf line as pure as possible, but they have noticed that coyotes appear when there is a Red Wolf population in a place, no matter how small.

2. Diseases from domestic dogs - When the recovery program attempted to start a second breeding program, the Red Wolf pups often picked up diseases normally seen in pet dogs. Adult wolves also started moving away from the protected areas.

3. Loss of habitat - Forests and hills where the Red Wolf roams has been getting fewer and fewer as more people begin to demand more space. Only a few protected habitat for the Red Wolf remain.

4. Public perception of wolves - This has been the hardest to change, according to the conservationists. People would hear the word "wolf" and they begin to imagine all sorts of bad things happening, which has not been good for the Red Wolf recovery program at all.

More information on the Red Wolf Recovery Program can be found here.

Red Wolf Fast Facts
Scientific Name: Canis Rufus
Type: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore
Height: 3 to 5.25 feet
Weight: 40 to 175 pounds
Range: Southeastern United States
Diet: Goats, sheep, deer, rats, rabbits

To solve a jigsaw puzzle of a wolf, click on the image or here.