FOOD AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR 



Prey includes a variety of invertebrates and 

 vertebrates. Young and Goldman (1944) and 

 Riley and McBride (1972) indicate that the marsh 

 rabbit {Sylvilagus aquaticus), nutria {Myocaster 

 coypus), and carrion are the major food items. 

 Other foods consist of white-tailed deer {Odo- 

 coileus virginianus), rodents, domestic stock, 

 waterfowl, fish, grasshoppers, beetles, and vege- 

 tation (Nowak 1972, Riley and McBride 1972). 



Wolves feed primarily at night, foraging op- 

 portunistically for small prey alone or in small 

 groups (Riley and McBride 1972). They typi- 

 cally travel in family groups. 



SHELTER REQUIREMENTS 



See nesting or bedding. 



NESTING OR BEDDING 



Historically, red wolves denned in hollow 

 tree trunks, along stream banks, and old holes of 

 other animals (Nowak 1972, Riley and McBride 

 1972, Lowman 1975). The dens were usually ob- 

 scured by brush and vegetation, but afforded the 

 occupants a view of the surrounding terrain. 



Water tables are probably too high for ground- 

 nesting in the coastal marshes where wolves still 

 occur, and nesting in tall vegetation has been re- 

 ported in these areas (C. Carley personal com- 

 munication). 



RITUAL REQUIREMENTS 



The role of howling in the social behavior is 

 not fully understood. The voice of the red wolf is 

 described by Riley and McBride (1972) and 

 McCarley (1978). 



OTHER CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL 

 REQUIREMENTS 



Nowak (1972) reported that the territory is 

 generally circular with a diameter attaining 64 km. 

 Carley (1975), using radio tracking, found that 

 males range over an area of approximately 116 

 km^ and females over a somewhat smaller area. 

 Lowman (1975) reports that the home range of 

 adult red wolves varies from 65 to 130 km^ . 



POPULATION NUMBERS AND TRENDS 



Numbers are reduced or extirpated over most 

 of the range (Pimlott and Joslin 1968). McCarley 

 (1962) recorded species extant in only a few 

 places in western and southern Louisiana. 



R. M. Nowak (personal communication) sums 

 up the trend: Steady decline since the coming of 



the white man; accelerated since large-scale hy- 

 bridization began about 1920; pure populations 

 apparently survived until about 1920. The Recov- 

 ery Team (RWRT personal communication) esti- 

 mates probably fewer than 50 pure red wolves in 

 the wild. 



McCarley and Carley (1979) assert that the 

 red wolf will soon be extinct in the wild, and C. 

 Carley (personal communication) states that the 

 species will probably be extinct in the wdld by 

 1981. 



REPRODUCTION 



Mating occurs in January and February with 

 pups born in March, April, and May (Nowak 1972, 

 Riley and McBride 1972, Lowman 1975). Litters 

 range from 3 to 12 with an average of 6 or 7 

 (Nowak 1972,Lowery 1974). 



Both parents participate in rearing the young 

 (Riley and McBride 1972, Lowman 1975), and 

 yearlings are often found in the vicinity of the 

 dens, and may help in rearing young. 



After the young reach 6 weeks of age, they 

 spend considerable time away from the den in 

 well-covered beds (Riley and McBride 1972, Low- 

 man 1975). Most die before the age of 6 months, 

 with hookworms reported to be the major cause. 

 Full size is attained in 1 year; sexual maturity by 

 3 years (Nowak 1972, Lowman 1975). Life ex- 

 pectancy is about 5 years in the wild, and greater 

 in captivity. 



Red wolves are more sociable than coyotes 

 but less so than gray wolves {Cams lupus). It is 

 not unusual to find three or more wolves tra- 

 veling throughout the range as a group (Riley and 

 McBride 1972). 



MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION 



Depletion of the red wolf was first reported in 

 1962. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed 

 this in 1968 and further determined that two sub- 

 species, Canis rufus rufus and C. r. gregoryi, pro- 

 bably existed, but that C. r. floridanus (inhabiting 

 the eastern part of the range) was extinct. More 

 recently, C. r. rufus (western part of range) was 

 deemed extinct also (Carley 1975). 



Efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 in 1969 involved removing depredating animals 

 from private lands. This served two purposes: (1) 

 established rapport with owners of remaining red 

 wolf habitat; and (2) facilitated removal of hy- 

 brids and coyotes while relocating red wolves 

 (Carley 1975). 



