Red Wolves Will Still Be Protected — But More By Zoos Than In The Wild

"The federal government announced Monday that it will work to increase the captive population of endangered red wolves. The move ends years of speculation that the government might abandon a 30-year effort to reintroduce the animals into the wild. The reintroduction project will be greatly restricted, however, and some wolves may be removed from the wild.

Cindy Dohner, southeast regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said doubling the number of captive wolves to 400 in zoos across the country is the only way to save red wolves. To do that, the service will attempt to increase the number of mating pairs from 29 to at least 52.

At the same time, the agency said it would remove isolated packs of wild red wolves from private lands in several North Carolina counties near where they were reintroduced and place them in a single county within the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Some of the wild wolves would likely be placed in zoos to shore up the mating pairs."

Darryl Fears reports for the Washington Post September 12, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"Feds To Halt Red Wolf Recovery Program" (The Hill)

"Red Wolf Reintroduction Program Halted" (Charleston Post and Courier)