Feds Drop Plan to Shrink Red Wolf Habitat

The rare red wolf (Canis lupus rufus) got some good news when federal wildlife officials announced they will drop plans to reduce the amount of protected habitat for the species. Perhaps as few as ten members of the subspecies exist in a five county area in eastern North Carolina, its only known home in the world.  A 2018 proposal would have limited the wolf's protected space to just two counties,  giving landowners more opportunity to kill strays.

The agency also said in its statement that it has the authority to release more captive bred wolves into the wild in accordance with a federal judge's ruling that the agency had to resume releasing wolves, a practice it had largely halted.  The agency said it would also continue to work with "stakeholders" to find ways of more "effective coexistence" with the wolf. Red wolves once occupied much of the eastern United States, but were driven to near extinction by the usual human factors.  They were reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987.  There is a captive population of about 200.