Red Wolf

The term endangered is used by international and national organizations to define plants and animals currently in danger of becoming extinct. Although the term endangered is universally used, the definition of an endangered species is greatly varied. In most cases, the factors causing an organism to become endangered are human- related. When discussing the causes of endangerment, it is important to understand that individual species are not the only factors involved in this dilemma. Endangerment …

…to future red wolf reintroductions, and even to future reintroductions of other animals known to interbreed with similar species. It will also help eliminate a non-native species such as the coyote from the reintroduction area. There are now 270 to 300 red wolves, including 220 in captivity and the rest in the wild -- quite a comeback from the 14 animals making up the original captive breeding population. There are currently 33 facilities nationwide where red wolves are captively bred.