Red wolves are native to the southeastern U.S. and presumably once played a vital role in regulating populations of deer, keeping them from overbrowsing rare plants, tree seedlings, and other vegetation. However, due to decades of persecution and habitat degradation, they are among the most critically endangered mammals in the world. Visit @redwolfreality to learn more about the survival story of these hardy creatures, who coexist with the wild around them.
Ron Sutherland spoke with The Guardian about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s seeming willingness to let the population of red wolves decline in the wild under the Trump administration. Photo: Ron Sutherland
The Washington Daily News featured a story about a listening session we hosted with the Red Wolf Coalition for local landowners in North Carolina’s red wolf recovery area. Photo: USFWS
Our Chief Scientist, Dr. Ron Sutherland, was quoted extensively in an Associated Press article about the discovery of surprising amounts of red wolf DNA in wild canids in coastal Texas. Photo: Seth Bynum, PDZA
Recent news, including a court ruling against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s mismanagement of wild red wolves and a comment counting effort that showed near unanimous support of red wolf recovery, shows the immense red wolf favor that exists in North Carolina’s swampy Albemarle Peninsula. But these small victories are not the end of the battle for the red wolf. Photo: Becky Bartell, USFWS
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove protections from the nation’s only wild population of endangered red wolves has been met with near unanimous opposition from the public. Nearly 99.9 percent of comments submitted favored the need for strong federal protections for red wolves. Photo: Ron Sutherland
Discussing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent decision to largely abandon red wolf recovery efforts, Ron Sutherland advocated for reinvesting in North Carolina’s wild red wolves in the Carolina Public Press. Photo: Ron Sutherland
Writing for Blue Ridge Outdoors, reporter Dan Dewitt chronicles the devastating saga of the wild red wolves, who now face extinction at the hands of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent red wolf recovery plan. With quotes and camera trap photos of red wolves from Ron Sutherland, the article explains how the agency’s lack of protections deals a death sentence for the endangered animals. Photo: Ron Sutherland
The Washington Post picked up this Associated Press article about North Carolina governor Roy Cooper’s comments urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinvest in red wolf conservation efforts. Recently, the USFWS released a plan that, if enacted, would undoubtedly cause the extinction of this endangered animal. Photo: Wildlands Network
In an article in the Charlotte Observer, Ron Sutherland discusses red wolves losing protections under the Endangered Species Act following a study of their genetic identity. Dr. Ron Sutherland, quoted in the article, has disproven the myth that red wolves are not genetically unique. Photo: John Froschauer
North Carolina TV station WECT interviewed Dr. Ron Sutherland about the recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife decision to allow the killing of critically endangered red wolves who wander off Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and onto private property. Photo: Steve Hillebrand, USFWS
A Raleigh, North Carolina TV station interviewed Dr. Ron Sutherland about the recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife decision to allow red wolves who wander onto private property to be shot, effectively allowing the extermination of the wild red wolf population. Photo: NC Hunting and Fishing Forum
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to allow hunters to kill all but 10-15 remaining red wolves, the most endangered wolf species in the world. This plan ignores the vast majority of public comments, 99.8% of which were in favor of protecting wolves. Photo: Wildlands Network
“Just for a minute, imagine a world where we truly recognized the intrinsic worth of all species.” Greg Costello explores rewilding as a personal journey and a conservation strategy. Photo: Greg Costello
Conservationists unveiled a new red wolf video today that they hope will prove reassuring to the hunting community in rural Eastern North Carolina, where the last few red wolves are found. Photo: Ron Sutherland
There is perhaps no other animal with whom humans have a more complicated relationship than the wolf. We have long feared the “Big, Bad Wolf.” But now, one particular wolf species—the red wolf—is in danger of extinction. Photo: Ron Sutherland