Red Wolf
Known as “America’s wolf,” red wolves are the only species of wolf that lives in the United States—and nowhere else.
- Common Name:
- Red Wolves
- Scientific Name:
- Canis rufus
- Type:
- Mammals
- Diet:
- Carnivore
- Size:
- 4 feet long
- Weight:
- 45 to 80 pounds
A cinnamon-colored wolf silently pads out from behind a scrubby thicket in a swampy corner of North Carolina. Its ears perk up, listening for the sounds of rabbits scurrying in the underbrush. While this rare red wolf searches for prey, experts are tracking the wolf’s movements through a radio collar it wears around its neck.
America's wolf
Known as “America’s wolf,” red wolves are the only species of wolf that lives in the United States—and nowhere else. They once roamed throughout the entire Southeast region, living alongside gray wolves and coyotes.
Red wolves are smaller than gray wolves, with longer legs, longer ears, and shorter fur. Like all wolf species, red wolves are social animals that usually live in family groups called packs. A pack is made up of a mated pair and their offspring. Older siblings help raise the youngsters, which are born in dens in hollow trees or the banks of streams.
Red wolves prefer to hunt small mammals like rabbits, mice, rats, and raccoons. They’ll eat white-tailed deer and carrion—dead stuff—if other prey is scarce. Very shy, red wolves prefer to keep away from areas with lots of people. However, they might hang out near farms that attract mice and other pests. In this way, red wolves might help farmers control the population of pests.
Species SOS
For hundreds of years, people thought wolves were a threat to livestock and would compete with hunters for game like deer. So they killed red wolves using guns, poison, and even dynamite. By the 1960s, these animals had almost gone extinct.
Red wolves were among the first group of animals listed under the 1973 Endangered Species Act, which kicked off a plan to rescue the species. Scientists brought 14 remaining red wolves to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington. Starting in 1987, over a hundred captive-born red wolves were reintroduced to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, a peninsula with plenty of prey and few livestock nearby.
In 2006, conservationists counted at least 130 wild wolves. But soon, those numbers began to fall again as people accidentally hit them with cars, and some landowners shot the wolves that came onto their property.
Even though fewer than 20 red wolves remain in the wild today, conservationists aren’t giving up. They’ve fitted the wild red wolves with bright orange GPS-tracking collars that make them more visible to drivers. The collars also remind people that these wolves are highly endangered, which discourages people from shooting them.
Pup party
Conservationists are also talking to local people to hear their concerns and help them understand why red wolves should be protected. And 2022 brought some good news for red wolves: Six pups joined the wild pack—including the first wild red wolf pups were born in four years. Conservationists hope that red wolves will remain wild in the United States for years to come.