Red Wolves Habitats

Red Wolves, scientific name Canis rufus, belong to the dog family, canidae. Canidae is further classified into two tribes, namely, true dogs and foxes. It is believed that Red wolves evolved about 1-2 million years ago and are a survivor of the last glacial period that took place in the Late Pleistocene epoch. According to evidences, Red Wolves, Gray Wolves, Eastern Wolves and Coyotes share a common ancestor. Here is some information about the physical characteristics, habits and habitat of Red Wolves.

Red Wolves: Physical Characteristics

Red Wolves, as the name suggests, exhibit a characteristic red colored fur, which is more conspicuous behind the ears and in the neck and legs. Other than these portions, the fur color of Red Wolves is brown with black shading in the back and tail. They molt once in year, during the winter season. Their big ears help them to overcome hot and humid climatic conditions.

The average size of Red Wolves is 4 feet in length (measured from nose tip to the end of the tail), 20 inches tall (shoulder height) and weight about 45-80 pounds. Generally, Red Wolves attain sexual maturity at the age of 22 months; however, there are some species that attains within 10 months. The breeding season of Red Wolves is during February-March and their gestation period is about 2 months. Females give birth to about 1-10 pups per litter around March-April. The newly born pups use to stay with the parents or about two years, after which, they disperse in the wild. The lifespan of Red Wolves is around 7-8 years in the wild and about 15 years in captivity.

Red Wolves: Habit and Habitats

Red Wolves are nocturnal in habit and feed on a variety of animals like nutria, rabbits, rodents, raccoon and white-tailed deer. Unlike other wolves, they rarely attack humans. Red Wolves, along with the Gray Wolves are important species, native of eastern North America. They prefer to inhabit the natural habitats like forest areas, swampy areas, coastal prairies and wetlands. They are known to distribute the east (New York), south (Florida) and south-west (Texas). The studies have reported the possibility of their distribution as far as Canada and other Southeastern US.

Due to the rapidly declining populations of Red Wolves, they are enlisted in the IUCN Red Data list as the most endangered wild canids. Their declining populations is mostly due to hunting, habitat loss and predator control programs. In the 1900s, hunting of Red Wolves was permitted, as they attack the domesticated cattle. Another cause of declining population is the mating of Red Wolves with Coyotes.

Since the declaration of Red Wolves as an endangered species in 1973, wildlife conservation programs like captive breeding have been initiated. By 1980, the population was declined to a meager number of 17 Red Wolves in captivity; whereas it was extinct in the wild.

Till now, the Red Wolves have been reintroduced in several natural habitats under various island propagation projects. Under the first island propagation project in 1987, about 100 Red Wolves were reintroduced in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, which covers an area of 152,000 acres (615 km²) in the off coast of North Carolina.

The second island propagation project was initiated in 1989, wherein Red Wolves was released on Horn Island, located in the off coast of Mississippi. The third and fourth projects were implemented in 1990 and 1997 respectively, in which populations of Red Wolves were introduced on different islands of Florida. As on 1998, the Red Wolves were relocated in North Carolina. Today, with the help of wildlife conservation programs, the number of Red Wolves is increased to about 300, with those in North Carolina being the only surviving wild population in the world.