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Restoration of the Red Wolf Michael K University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for Publications 1-1-2003 Restoration of the Red Wolf Michael K. Phillips V. Gary Henry Brian T. Kelly Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_usdanwrc Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons Phillips, Michael K.; Henry, V. Gary; and Kelly, Brian T., "Restoration of the Red Wolf" (2003). USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff Publications. Paper 234. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_usdanwrc/234 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff ubP lications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Pages 272-288 in Mech, David L. and Luigi Boitani, eds. Wolves: behavior, ecology, and conservation. University of Chicago Press, 2003. 11 Restoration of the Red Wolf Michael K.Phillips, V Gary Henry, and Brian T Kelly "WOLFERS" IN NORTHEASTERN North Carolina were we got to the trees we observed they had been feeding on busy on February 5, 1768. Records from the Tyrrell the carcase of a horse. The wolves of Florida are larger than County courthouse read: a dog, and are perfectly black, except the females, which have a white spot on the breast; but they are not SO large as Giles Long and Thomas Wllkinson awarded one pound the wolves of Canada and Pennsylvania, which are of a yel- for a certified wolf scalp; Jeremiah Norman awarded two lowish brown colour. pounds for certified wolf and wild-cat scalps; Davenport Smithwick awarded one pound for a certified wolf-scalp. About 60 years later, researchers concluded that the Such was the nature of the war on the wolf: people killed Florida wolf inhabited other southeastern states and that them for money. The belief of the time held that the war it was structurally different from wolves inhabiting the was necessary because it was humadund's manifest des- rest of North America (Audubon and Bachman 1851). tiny to tame the wilderness. And for the wilderness to be Goldman (1944) supported this conclusion after exam- tame, the wolf had to be exterminated. The wolf was ining a large series of wolf specinlens from the south- resourceful and hardy, but the wolfers persisted with eastern United States. He concluded that all the animals incre'lsingly sophisticated methods of killing. The war shared important cranial and dental characteristics and assigned them to one species, the red wolf (Canis rtiJlij), lasted 200 years, and the wolf lost. which has both red'and black phases. History of the Red Wolf Even though the red wolf was first described dur- ing the eighteenth century, the species' natural history In the late 1700s, n~turahstWilliam Bartram traveled remained poorly understood until the latter part of throughout the southeastern United States. In his book the twentieth century. This lack of understandin,a was Travels (Bartram 1791),he described the wolf he encoun- largely due to a lack of interest in studying the species tered in Florida: before the 1960s, and by then red wolves were endan- gered (McCarley 1962). Observing a company of wolves (lupus niger) under a few During the late 1960s and early 1g7os, most efforts Qees, about a quarter of a mile from shore, we rode up to- were directed toward determining the red wolf's status w.ards them, they observing our approach, sat on their hin- in the wild and identify&g individuals to be placed in a der parts until we came nearly within shot of them, when captive breeding program. Because of this, our knowl- they trotted off towards the forests, but stopped again and edge of red wolves prior to the restoration effort we de- looked at us, at about two hundred yards dist~nce:we then scribe in this chapter (Rdey and hfcBride 1972; Shaw whooped, and made a feint to pursue them; when they sep- 1975) is based on relatively small samples f- om remnant arated from each other, some stretching off into the plains, and probably 'atypical red wolf populations. Phdips and and others see-king covert in the groves on the shore: when Henry (1992) charactsrized the behavior and ecolog of RESTOR.4TIOT OF TEE XED WOLF 273 the red ciolf using preliminary data from the restoratior! Captive Breeding of Red 'ItTol.i-es program. In this chapter, we present a more detailed znalysis ofthese data and compare and contrast our find- In Sovember 1973, 2 red wolf captive breedlng program ings, when possible, with the early information on the was established at the Point Defiance Zoological Gar- red wolf. dens, Tacoma, ib7ashington. To supply animals to the From the restored popula~on,we know that the red breeding program, the USFJVS captured over 400 canids wolf, llke the gray wolf, is a monestrous species that t).p- from southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas ically becomes sexually mature by its second year. From from 1973 to 1980 (Carley 1975; McCarley and Carley historical data and the restoration to date, we know that 1979; USFIVS 1990). Measurements, vocalization analy- litters average three pups (Riley and Mc3ride 1972) and ses, and skull X rays were used to distinguish red wolves that red wolves live in family groups similar to those of from coyotes and red wolf-coyote hybrids (Carley 1975; gray wolves (Fbley and McBride 1972; Shaw 1975). Data Paradiso and Nowak 1971,1972; Riley and McBride 1972; from the restored population indicate that the offspring Shaw 1975), although these criteria had their critics (Jor- of a breeding pair are tolerated in their natal home range dan 1979). Of the 400 animals captured, only 43 were be- until they disperse, and that dispersal is apparently re- lieved to be red wolves and sent to the breeding facility. la~eclLU auiial faitcii.~iilujt typically aahucialed will1 ~lir Tlle firs1 1i~lt.r~wcre procluied in captivity i11 May ly//. onset of sexual maturity. Some of the pups were believed to be hybrids, so they We have noted some fundamental differences in and their parents were removed from the captive pro- the prey consumed by the remnant populations of red gram. Of the original 43 animals, only 14 were consid- wolves and the restored population. Principal prey prior ered pure red wolves and became the breeding stock for to extinction included nutria, rabbits, and rodents (Ri- the captive program (USFWS 1990). ley and McBride 1972; Shaw 1975). In contrast, the re- Although Bartram (1791) observed the black phase of stored wolves relied on white-tailed deer, raccoon, and the red wolf, he saw very few individuals. Had he viewed rabbits, with resource partitioning evident wi~hinpacks. more, he would have realized that red wolves most of- Data from the restoration program indicate that dens ten show a mixture of gray, black, and cinnamon-buff can be located both above and below ground, and that (Goldman 1944). Physically, the red wolf is intermediate mortality is due to a variety of factors, including ve- to the coyote and gray wolf (Canis ILL~ZLS)(Bekoff 1977a; hicles, parasitism, and intraspecific aggression. Mech 1g74a; Paradiso and Nowak 1972).The dispropor- The demise of the red wolf was a result of many fac- tionately long legs and large ears are tcvo obvious features tors. Human persecution of wild canids and human that separate red wolves from coyotes and gray wolves settlement of most of the southeastern United States (Riley and McBride 1972). forced the last few red wolves to use marginal habitat in It is difficult, however, to dstinguish red wolves from Louisiana and Texas, where they bred with coyotes and red wolf-coyote hybrids (Carley 1975). This difficulty, suffered heavy parasite infestation (Nowak 1972, 1979; combined with the intermediate morphology of red Riley and McBride 1972; Carley 1975; Custer and Pence wolves and the commonness of hybrids, fueled a last- 1gSla; Pence et. a]. 1981). ing debate over the taxonomic status of the red wolf (see The red wolf was listed by the United States as en- Wayne and Vila, chap. 8, and Nowak, chap. 9 in this vol- dangered in 1967, and a recovery program was initiated ume). Some authorities consider the red wolf a full spe- with passage of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of cies (Paradiso 1968; Atluns and Dillon 1971; Paradiso and 1973. The initial objective ofthe recoverypro,_ ram was to Nowak 1971; Elder and Hayden 1977; Ferrell et al. 1980; document the current distribution and abundance of Gipson et al. 1974; Nowak i979), while others consider it red wolves in Texas and Lo~~siana.Fieldwork quickly re- a subspecies of the gray wolf (Lawrence and Bossert 1967, vealed that free-ranging red wolves were rare, while coy- 1975) or a hybrid resulting from interbreedings of gray otes were common (Fbley and hIcBride 1972; Carley wolves and coyotes (Mech 1970; Wayne and Jenks 1991). 1975). Red wolf-coyote hybrids were also common (Car- In response, the USFWS conducted an e-uhaustive ley 1975). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (LSFPVS) review of the issue and concluded that the red wolf is ei- concluded that the red wolf could be recovered only ther a separate species or a subspecies of the gray wolf throw& captive breeding and reintroductions (Carley (PWps and Henry 1992; Ko.cvak 1992a; Xowak et al. 1975) 1995). Since then, molecular genetic data from wolves in 274 M;c.hacI K Ph!l!$s, \! Gn-y -Fri;r:::y, nnd Brim T Kc!!) sautheastern Ontarlo have led i\'dson et al.
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