The Red Wolf Coalition (www.redwolves.com) is committed to ensuring the long-term survival of red wolf populations by educating about red wolves and promoting public participation in the protection of red wolves. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Captive red wolf breeding facilities announced today the release of four rare red wolves from the wild in North Carolina after conservation groups won a federal court ruling in January requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a plan to release wild-caught red wolves to avoid irreversible damage to the critically endangered population. of extinction during the ongoing litigation. The facilities also reported the care of four Red Cubs with a wild red wolf in North Carolina. “We look forward to working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to protect wild red wolves for future generations,” Weaver said. Only seven red wolves have remained in the wild after the agency refused to release captive wolves in the past six years. In 2015, the USFWS suspended its longstanding and successful practice of releasing wild-caught red wolves into the approximately 1.7 million acres Red Wolf Recovery Area. In contrast, the USFWS released an average of eight wolves per year during the first five years of its red wolf reintroduction program in eastern North Carolina, for a total of 134 red wolves over the program`s 35-year history.
Proven conservation measures, such as releasing red wolves into captivity and neutering coyotes, helped the wild red wolf population reach nearly 130 animals in the late 2000s and were estimated to have 100 wolves or more from 2002 to 2014. “Getting more red wolves out into the wild in North Carolina is what we`re fighting for, and it`s finally a step in the right direction,” said Sierra Weaver, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “The ultimate question will be whether this represents a return to the service`s historic commitment to conservation, or whether more court orders are needed to maintain this. In an effort to reduce deaths of endangered red wolves in five counties in eastern North Carolina, conservation groups and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission have agreed to new rules to limit hunting of unthreatened wolf lookalikes: coyotes. The center opened to the public in 2007 after hosting a number of big cats from a closed Ohio zoo three years earlier. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose budget comes primarily from donations and tour ticket sales. About 20 big cats live there, as well as 20 other animal species, including servals, fennec foxes, lemurs, binturongs, bobcats and wolves. Orange County Animal Services warned the public Monday about dogs that could be a cross between wolves and German shepherds. “The Red Wolf Coalition is grateful to the Species Survival Plan participants who made these releases possible,” said Kim Wheeler, Executive Director of the Red Wolf Coalition. “We hope that these newly released red wolves will thrive in the wild and that the USFWS`s Red Wolf Recovery Strategy will continue to take steps that pave the way for recovery in North Carolina.” “A ban on nighttime coyote hunting and better management of coyote hunting in the Red Wolf Recovery Area are reasonable measures to increase safety and protect these rare wolves,” said Sierra Weaver, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center representing the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) in the case.
Daytime hunting of coyotes requires approval and reporting, and nighttime projector hunting is prohibited in the five counties — Dare, Hyde, Washington, Tyrrell and Beaufort — that make up the red wolf recovery zone of five counties. The area is home to the world`s only wild population of red wolves, estimated at around 100. The Southern Environmental Law Center sued the USFWS on November 16, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, the Defenders of Wildlife, and the Animal Welfare Institute for violations of the Endangered Species Act caused by the agency`s illegal policies prohibiting the use of proven management measures to save wild red wolves. The groups filed a request for a preliminary injunction in the case on Nov. 19, 2020, to temporarily prohibit the agency from implementing its recent policy change prohibiting the release of wild-caught wolves. This application was approved on March 22. In January 2021, the court ordered the USFWS to develop a plan for the release of captive red wolves into the wild during the ongoing litigation. This release of captive wolves into the wild population is consistent with this plan. Owning a wolf in North Carolina is illegal, but any animal that is less than 100% wolf is allowed as a pet in the state.
However, each county has its own rules, and hybrids of this type are not allowed to be kept as pets in Orange County. At present, no information about the owners or how the wolf-dog hybrids dissolved has been published. A warning was sent Monday with the kind permission of Orange County Animal Control that the dogs would be a cross between German shepherds and wolves. The dogs escaped about a week ago in the Cedar Grove area of Orange County.
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