UNEP-WCMC - Red Wolf

CURRENT POPULATION By 1980 the Red Wolf was believed to be extinct in the wild. The current wild population of Red Wolves descended from reintroduced animals. In 1992 the total Red Wolf population (including captive animals) was 204 (Mech, 1992).

SIZE Head and body length 95 to 120cm. Tail length 25 to 35cm.

WEIGHT 18 to 41kg.

AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY Potential longevity in captivity is 14 years (Nowak, 1991).

NORMAL DIET Swamp rabbits, nutria (coypu), raccoons and deer.

NORMAL LIFESTYLE A pack-living animal with a complex social organisation. Packs are primarily family groups.

PREVIOUS GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD Formerly found throughout the south-eastern United States from southern Florida to central Texas.

REASONS FOR DECLINE The demise of the Red Wolf was directly related to man's activities, especially land changes, including: drainage of wetland areas for agricultural purposes; the construction of dam projects that flooded prime lowland habitat; directed hunting; and hybridisation with coyotes.

CURRENT THREATS Genetic introgression from interbreeding with coyotes.

CONSERVATION PROJECTS A captive breeding population was established at Point Defiance Zoological Gardens, Tacoma, Washington. This programme provided animals for reintroduction into the 477sq. km Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. Despite its near extinction public views of the Red Wolf are still poor. Further reintroduction in parks in the south-eastern United States should be coordinated with an intensive education programme.

SPECIAL FEATURES It has been suggested that the Red Wolf is ancestral to the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus).

REFERENCES

Mech, D. 1992. Wolf Specialist Group. Species. 19: pp.63.

US Department of the Interior. 1991. Determination of Experimental Population Status for an Introduced Population of Red Wolves in North Carolina and Tennessee. Federal Register 56(213): 56325-56334.

Ginsberg, J.R. & Macdonald, D.W. 1990. Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Dogs. An Action Plan for the Conservation of Canids. IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland. pp.40-41.

Nowak, R.M. 1991. Walker's Mammals of the World. 5th ed. Vol.2. John Hopkins University Press, London. pp.1070-1071.

Smith, R. 1991. 1991 Red Wolf International Studbook. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Washington.

This information has been made available with help from WWF and Chevron.

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