Red Wolves are only one of two species of wolves in the world. The other species is the larger Gray Wolf. In 1973 they were declared an endangered species and in 1980 the USFWS officially declared the Red Wolf extinct in the wild. However the USFWS captured 17 red wolves prior to 1980 and has used an extensive breading program in over 38 zoos and nature centers around the US to bring their numbers back to around 265 individuals as of August 2005. In 1987 the Red Wolf was reintroduced first into the wilds of North Carolina and it is estimated that there are over 100 Red Wolves in the wild now. Another 165 or so are still in the captive breeding programs. Read the USFWS pamphlet to your right for more detailed information about this reintroduction.
Red Wolves tend to pair off with a mate for life. Once bonded, they breed once a year, usually in late winter. Gestation period is between 60 and 63 days. After this time, the female gives birth to between 2 - 6 pups. Both parents help raise the offspring who are mature enough to leave behind parental support at 6 months of age. Red Wolves in captivity can live up to 15 years old, however, there life span in the wild is somewhat shorter averaging around 6 - 7 years.
Red Wolf Diet
Unlike the Grey Wolf, the Red Wolf eats mainly small animals including rabbits, raccoons and rodents. Red Wolves will occasionally eat insects and berries. Because they are smaller than the Grey Wolf, large prey is difficult to capture and therefore it is rare for them to eat larger prey such as deer unless they have help from other wolves.
Red Wolf Behaviour
Red Wolves are shy and secretive animals and tend to hunt alone or in small packs that include the breeding adult pair (the alpha male and female) and their offspring. Size of the pack varies with the size depending on the availability of prey.
A hierarchy of dominant and subordinate animals within the pack help it to function as a unit. Red wolves are primarily nocturnal and mainly active at night. They communicate by scent marking, vocalizations (including howling), facial expressions and body postures. . (For more information see Wolf Behaviour).
In their historical range, red wolves were considered to be one of the most dominant predatorswithin their environment, only coming under threat from larger canines such as grey wolves or the occasional coyote. Human hunters wiped out the red wolf population in large parts of their natural range, and the population was finally thought to become extinct primarily due to habitatloss.
Red wolves are usually able to reproduce by the time they are 2 years old and begin mating in the warmer spring months of February and March. The female red wolf gives birth to a litter of up to 10 cubs after a gestation period that lasts for around 60 days. Cubs are born blind and are nursed by the rest of the pack until they are able to hunt for themselves and either remain with their parents or leave to start a pack of their own.
Today, the red wolf is no longer extinct in the wild since their reintroduction to North Carolina in 1987, and the population their is now thought to be just over 100 red wolf individuals. Nevertheless, the red wolf is still considered to be a critically endangered animal and is regarded as the 10th most endangered animal species in the world.
While red wolves do live within family units they are not particularly receptive to other wolves stepping in to their territory and in an effort to deter foreign wolves from stepping in to their territory and reducing the availability of food they will mark territory with their scent – this process is done by urination on boundary trees. Within their family pack; however, the red wolf acts as a particularly attentive parent with the mother taking precautions to ensure the safety of her young. Even though the red wolf is a nurturing parent; however, it still feeds in a hierarchy with the older and stronger pack members eating first. Red wolves tend to eat alone with distinct portions of food designated to each individual in the pack. By establishing hierarchical order within the pack red wolves do not just make sure that each member of the pack knows its place in the social order but they also enable more fluid function of the pack as a whole. While the young within a pack move from their family pack to their own pack the parental units within the pack generally mate for life.
But really, what is the big deal about saving the red wolf species? The red wolf is just one of two wolf species, the second species being the grey wolf. Within the red wolf species are three subspecies; the Canis rufus floridanus that went extinct in 1930, the Canus rufus gregoryi which went extinct in the wild in 1970 and the Canus rufus rufus which went extinct in the wild in 1980. It is the Canus rufus rufus that has been impacted by the reintroduction of red wolves in to North Carolina but even with increasing numbers the red wolf Canus rufus rufus species is still considered to be critically endangered. With only two subspecies of red wolf remaining and only two species of wolf remaining can the world really afford to miss this Canid species?
Without the wolves present it seems that prey numbers would still be maintained by other predators such as coyotes and black bears but what role did these creatures play in their ecosystems? Red wolves were top predators within their ecosystems that helped to manage the population of other mammals and even with other species taking over this role the lack of red wolves in the ecosystem would still leave a gap. This gap would result in the expansion of other animal populations which would topple the balance of the ecosystem. It is not just that the red wolf is an amazing animal that is worth keeping around simply so that other generations can enjoy its presence but it is also an animal worth keeping around because without it the health of other species and forest ecosystems will be at risk.
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