Saving Red Wolves
Red wolves are the most endangered canines in the world. Once spread across the U.S. Southeast, these clever and highly adaptive predators suffered a similar fate to that of their gray wolf cousins. People relentlessly persecuted them, to the extent that in 1980 — after the capture of the last remaining red wolves for a captive-breeding program — the species was declared extinct in the wild.
Now they’re coming back, and we’re working hard to help make sure their inspiring story ends in recovery.Background
Red wolves were once the apex predators of the southeastern United States. They thrived in a variety of habitats, from forests to coastal prairies to swamps and marshes, keeping prey populations like deer and rodents in check. Their territory stretched from central Texas to Florida and as far north as southern New York and the Ohio River Valley.
Their decline began with the arrival of European colonizers, who brought a deep-seated cultural fear of predators, along with intensive livestock farming and targeted eradication campaigns.
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The species was near extinction by 1973, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured the last wild red wolves, choosing 14 adults with pure wolf genes to establish a captive-breeding program. The species was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (having already been protected under its precursor, the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966). That same year the Service kicked off its Red Wolf Recovery Program, the overarching federal framework that coordinates multiagency conservation work.
In 1980 the Service declared red wolves officially extinct in the wild.
Seven years later, four pairs of red wolves were released in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare County, North Carolina. The red wolves’ reintroduction program was considered one of the world’s most innovative and successful efforts to restore a “critically endangered” carnivore species, as the International Union for Conservation of Nature deemed red wolves in 1996. By 2006 the wolves’ wild population had reached 120.
But in the 2010s their fortunes reversed again. Their population suffered a catastrophic second crash due to a combination of intense local political pushback, a surge in human-caused deaths, and a sudden, highly controversial reversal in management by the federal government.
The Service nearly abandoned the Red Wolf Recovery Program, and by 2020, only seven red wolves remained. Lawsuits eventually forced the government to restart the program, and red wolves started making another incredible comeback.
In 2026, with only 21 adult red wolves roaming eastern North Carolina, new hope was born for the species — in the form of four litters of pups.
Threats
Today the number-one cause of early red wolf mortality is vehicle strikes, and the primary roadway where wild wolves die is U.S. Highway 64 in eastern North Carolina. This high-speed “beach highway” cuts directly through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, the heart of red wolves’ last remaining wild territory. Sixteen red wolves have been killed by vehicle strikes since 2020.
Fortunately the Center led a campaign to build wildlife crossings beneath Highway 64. We raised $2 million from more than 12,000 donors, which ultimately leveraged a federal grant of $25 million. The red wolf wildlife crossings’ design and construction are underway.
Our Campaign
The Center works through science, litigation, and advocacy to save red wolves and publicize their plight.
A few of many milestones in this fight:
- In 2019 the Center released a comprehensive report outlining everything needed to reverse the species’ clear trend toward extinction.
- The same year we filed a lawsuit challenging the Fish and Wildlife Service’s failure to revise its outdated recovery plan from 1990.
- In 2024 we helped win a $25 million Federal Highway Administration grant for North Carolina to build wildlife crossings for these critically endangered wolves.
Check out our press releases for the latest on our fight to save red wolves.
