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Description

Population estimate as of February 2024:
Known/collared (wild): 18.
Total estimate (wild): 20-22.
Red Wolf SAFE (captive): 263
Currently listed as an "endangered species"

IF THESE ANIMALS WENT EXTINCT THIS IS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN:
The food chain would crumble. The elk and deer population would increase and eat the cow and other livestock's food. Then we, the Humans, would have a food shortage in beef and dairy and possibly shortages in other food products too. Not only that, but the environment would be worn down.

Why are Red Wolves important?
Red wolves play a vital role in regulating populations of deer, keeping them from over-browsing vegetation and farmland. Historically, red wolves also likely helped control raccoons and opossums, preventing these smaller predators from overpopulating to the point of endangering native songbirds.
Within their ecosystem, the wolves play a valuable role in keeping numbers of prey like deer in check. In turn the smaller prey populations are less likely to balloon out of control and consume all available nutrients in their habitat.

THREATS: Red wolves are threatened by habitat loss; illegal killings and other human persecution; and hybridization with coyotes.
POPULATION TREND: Red wolves were declared extinct in the wild in 1980.

Fun Facts:
Red wolves communicate through a variety of behaviors such as touch, smell, and vocalizations. Their vocalizations are a cross between a coyote and a gray wolf.
Red wolves are distantly related to gray wolves and coyotes.

Are Red Wolves coming back?
As a result, USFWS is now legally committed to progress red wolf recovery through 2030. This commitment includes three key elements: Increasing the wild population by releasing red wolves currently part of captive breeding programs, including fostering captive born pups in wild dens.
For the first time in nearly three decades, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is poised to release an updated recovery plan for the red wolf. According to a draft, the agency proposes spending a quarter billion dollars over the next 50 years to rebuild and expand the wild wolf population.

Description

Population estimate as of February 2024:
Known/collared (wild): 18.
Total estimate (wild): 20-22.
Red Wolf SAFE (captive): 263
Currently listed as an "endangered species"

IF THESE ANIMALS WENT EXTINCT THIS IS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN:
The food chain would crumble. The elk and deer population would increase and eat the cow and other livestock's food. Then we, the Humans, would have a food shortage in beef and dairy and possibly shortages in other food products too. Not only that, but the environment would be worn down.

Why are Red Wolves important?
Red wolves play a vital role in regulating populations of deer, keeping them from over-browsing vegetation and farmland. Historically, red wolves also likely helped control raccoons and opossums, preventing these smaller predators from overpopulating to the point of endangering native songbirds.
Within their ecosystem, the wolves play a valuable role in keeping numbers of prey like deer in check. In turn the smaller prey populations are less likely to balloon out of control and consume all available nutrients in their habitat.

THREATS: Red wolves are threatened by habitat loss; illegal killings and other human persecution; and hybridization with coyotes.
POPULATION TREND: Red wolves were declared extinct in the wild in 1980.

Fun Facts:
Red wolves communicate through a variety of behaviors such as touch, smell, and vocalizations. Their vocalizations are a cross between a coyote and a gray wolf.
Red wolves are distantly related to gray wolves and coyotes.

Are Red Wolves coming back?
As a result, USFWS is now legally committed to progress red wolf recovery through 2030. This commitment includes three key elements: Increasing the wild population by releasing red wolves currently part of captive breeding programs, including fostering captive born pups in wild dens.
For the first time in nearly three decades, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is poised to release an updated recovery plan for the red wolf. According to a draft, the agency proposes spending a quarter billion dollars over the next 50 years to rebuild and expand the wild wolf population.