Red Wolves

Red wolves are important in the environment and need help from the people to become dense in population again. The wolves deserve to live in the environment. This is why there are so many organizations and programs that are devoted to help increase the Red wolf population.

The Red wolves are basically large dogs. The scientific name for the Red wolves is canis rufus (Glenn, C. R.1). The Red wolves are mammals because they have fur on them (1). They are relatives to the Grey wolves, yet they are slightly smaller than them (1). Compared to the Grey wolves, Red wolves are way more skinnier but run faster (1). Red wolves have a tawny red colored coat with a few patches of grey and black areas (1). They also have a fluffy tail that has a blackish color on the end of it (1). Their tails can grow up to 13.8cm long (2). In the winter time the Red wolves coat turns a darker red than it is in the summer time (1). This is because they have more fur to help them keep warm during the harsh climates of the winter. The adult Red wolves can grow up to 4.5 feet from the head to the end of their tail (1). They can weigh up to 77 pounds and the males are usually larger than the females (1). They eat mainly small rodents, deer, and other small animals such as rabbits and raccoons (1). The leaders of Red wolf packs are usually the oldest wolves there (2). They all look after each other in the packs (2). Female Red wolves give birth to three to six pups after their mating season (2). They stay pregnant for sixty to sixty-three days (2).

There are just over a hundred Red wolves the wander refuges and peoples land (Dell'amore, Christine1). Red wolves were said to be extinct in 1980 after people took them for breeding programs (Glenn C. R.1).They used to live in many environments such as swamps, forest, and bush lands (1). Red wolves are endangered in every state except Alaska and Minnesota (Reintroduction plan endangers wolves2).The Red wolves are endangered because of hunters, human population growth, and the clearing of their homes, the forest (2). Most people would leave them alone if they would stay off their property. Instead, the Red wolves go onto the hunter's land and kill their farm animals (Reintroduction plan endangers wolves1). The forest problem could be helped though; the people could stop clearing out so much in the forests that the Red wolves live in.

The recovery plan varies for different types of programs. Chattanooga Nature Center has seven Red wolves in captivity (Braly, Anne1). Two more joined the nature center on January 25th, 1996 (1). Some more Red wolves were born at the Sandy Ridge Breeding Facility at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina in 2009 (1). Though the third pup of the litter at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was killed before it could be taken from where it was born at (1). It died shortly after it was born (1). The people at the Alligator River National Wildlife