Endangered red wolf population on the rebound with captive breeding program

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There's some cautious optimism these days among wildlife experts working to save the critically endangered red wolf. Progress to rebuild the wolf population has been slow, but after several years of setbacks, it might be headed in the right direction. From member station WUNC in Raleigh, Elizabeth Friend reports.

ELIZABETH FRIEND, BYLINE: Twice a day, a team of veterinary school students make the trek to a secluded spot on the campus of North Carolina State University to care for a handful of red wolves.

(SOUNDBITE OF WOLVES HOWLING)

FRIEND: On rare occasions, they catch the wolves howling at emergency sirens or local coyotes, like in this video recorded last year. But on this hot day, the wolves are pretty quiet. The pack consists of five adults and, since this spring, a couple of pups. They're the first litter born here since 2019. The wolves live in a large, wooded enclosure. The location is secret to protect them from harassment and to keep them as wild as possible.

SEAN HUBBARD: We try to minimize how much contact these wolves have with people. The most that they'll see on a regular shift where we're going out and feeding is two.

FRIEND: That's Sean Hubbard, co-president of the Canine Conservation Crew. The volunteer student group is charged with caring for some of the most critically endangered wolves in the world. Hubbard says red wolves used to roam from New York down to Florida across the entire southeastern United States.

HUBBARD: But when Europeans arrived, they were hunted almost to extinction, just like the gray wolf. And that was to the point where there were only a few dozen individuals left that were identifiable as a red wolf by the 1970s.

FRIEND: Starting with just 14 red wolves, biologists launched a captive breeding program to try to save the species, which was declared extinct in the wild in 1980. Right now, there are close to 300 red wolves living in captivity. The wolves at NC State are part of a nationwide effort to increase the population and reintroduce the species back into the wild. A student scooped kibble for their meal. The reddish-gray wolves emerge silently from between the trees.

HUBBARD: They are great at hiding. Those coats are perfect for the woodlands of our area.

FRIEND: The pups born here are part of a baby boom. In the last two years, the captive breeding programs across the country have produced nearly 100 new offspring. That's a big deal. Those new wolves will help keep the species alive. Ultimately, the goal is to return as many as possible to the wild.

JOE MADISON: We don't have the classic acres and acres of pristine, untouched wilderness.

FRIEND: That's Joe Madison with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He manages the red wolf population in a five-county region in eastern North Carolina, the only place in the world they're still free to roam. The remote area is a mix of marshes, fields and forests.

MADISON: The red wolves tend to be in the open farm fields or open areas because that's where most of the prey density is.

FRIEND: Madison estimates there are just 16 adult wild wolves in eastern North Carolina right now. But they are a young population, and they do have litters. Still, they're always at risk of getting hit by cars or being mistaken for coyotes, which are slightly smaller and legal to hunt. Madison says they try to communicate with those living near wolf territory.

MADISON: People don't need to love red wolves. It's just more about getting people to tolerate their existence in their area, you know?

FRIEND: The success of the captive breeding program, along with small but significant gains among the wild population, are renewing hope for the future of the species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a new long-range plan, and if it works, the red wolf could be removed from the federal endangered species list in roughly 50 years. For NPR News, I'm Elizabeth Friend in Raleigh, N.C. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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