One of the WCC's former resident red wolves, Deven, was chosen for release into the wild in May 2021!Īs of February 2021, 10 known (radio-collared) red wolves roamed the wilds of northeastern North Carolina and about 250 comprised the captive breeding program, still an essential element of red wolf recovery.
The WCC’s two other red wolves reside on exhibit in the Red Wolf Exhibit. These enclosures are private and secluded, and the wolves are not on exhibit for the public. 8 of our resident red wolves occupy enclosures in the WCC's Endangered Species Facility. As of early 2022, the WCC is home to 10 red wolves. To date, the WCC has welcomed four red wolf litters (2010, 2015, and two in 2018) and two red wolves from the WCC have been given the extraordinary opportunity to resume their rightful places on the wild landscape. The WCC joined the recovery effort in 2004 via its acceptance into the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan and has played a critical role in preserving and protecting these imperiled species through carefully managed breeding and reintroduction. For over two decades the USFWS has been restoring red wolves to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. As of February 2023, there are currently 14 known to remain in the wild in North Carolina.īy 1987, enough red wolves were bred in captivity to begin a restoration program to return the species to a portion of their traditional range in the southeast United States. Red wolves are protected as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act and are classified as "critically endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List. Most active at dusk and dawn, red wolves are elusive and generally avoid humans and human activity. Red wolves prey on a variety of wild mammals such as raccoon, rabbit, white-tailed deer, nutria, and other rodents.
Red wolves are social animals that live in packs consisting of a breeding adult pair and their offspring of different years, typically five to eight animals. Intermediate in size to gray wolves and coyotes, the average adult red wolf weighs 45-80 pounds, stands about 26 inches at the shoulder and is about 4 feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail.
As their name suggests, red wolves are known for the characteristic reddish color of their fur most apparent behind the ears and along the neck and legs, but are mostly brown and buff colored with some black along their backs.
The red wolf ( Canis rufus) is one of two species of wolves in North America, the other being the gray wolf ( Canis lupus).
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