in captivity and released in Tennessee, 

 South Carolina and North Carolina. 

 Since their release at Alligator River 

 National Wildlife Refuge in 1987, the 

 population has fanned out to Lake 

 Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, 

 Pocosin Lakes National 

 Wildlife Refuge and 

 surrounding lands accessed 

 through agreement with 

 land owners. These lands 

 have witnessed the rebirth 

 of the species, with 106 

 pups born in the wild by 

 the end of last year. 



"We couldn't ask for 

 any more from the wolves 



— they're doing great," 

 says Michael Morse, 

 wildlife biologist for the 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service's Red Wolf 

 Program at the Alligator 

 River refuge. 



Even as the wolf 

 population grows, people 

 are seeing less and less of 

 the creatures as they revert 

 to their natural shyness. 

 Wary of humans, red 

 wolves are considered 

 social animals because they 

 live in an extended family 

 group. Born around May 1 

 with their eyes and ears 

 closed, they are totally 

 dependent on their mothers 

 while nursing. At that 

 tender age, they are 

 constantly watched by a 

 father, mother or other 

 yearling. 



By about six months, the pups start 

 to explore their family's range — 

 anywhere from 1 0,000 to 60,000 acres 



— and practice hunting, but remain 

 dependent on their parents for food. 

 Their sheltered existence comes to an 

 end at 1 8 to 20 months of age, when 

 they are dispersed by breeding adults 

 that shun their offspring upon sexual 

 maturity. Banished, many die as they 

 struggle to feed themselves and find 

 their own ranges. 



Like the red wolf, the river otter 

 pup can look forward to a sheltered 

 infant sojourn, which is spent with its 

 mother since males usually disappear 

 after breeding. 



Only 4 to 5 inches long at birth, 



Courtesy of the United States Marine Corps 



river otters are fully furred and look like 

 tiny replicas of their parents, except for 

 being blind and helpless. Their den 

 might be a hollow tree or an old muskrat 

 or beaver house with an underwater 

 entrance, and they are usually born in 

 early spring. 



However, some pups arrive at other 

 times because their mothers, who 

 remate shortly after a pregnancy begins, 

 can harbor fertilized eggs in a state of 

 delayed implantation for as long as eight 

 months. After this period, the eggs 



continue to develop for about two 

 months, and then pups are born. As these 

 offspring enter the world, their older 

 siblings strike out, a phenomenon that 

 helps the single mother cope with caring 

 for her young. 



Highly intelligent 

 animals adept at seizing 

 fishy prey, river otters have 

 lots of time for play, which 

 they relish. Living is easy 

 for them even in winter 

 because fish swim slower 

 then and are easier to catch. 

 Yet otters generally choose 

 early spring to bear their 

 young so that weaned pups 

 can enjoy the clement 

 breezes of May and June 

 and their offerings. 



"Spring birth gives 

 them the advantage that 

 when they are weaned, it's 

 summertime and a lot more 

 stuff is available, everything 

 from tadpoles to crayfish or 

 frogs," says Perry Sumner, 

 furbearer project leader for 

 the N.C. Wildlife Resources 

 Commission. He has 

 worked to reintroduce river 

 otters to western North 

 Carolina. 



River otters disap- 

 peared from that part of the 

 state by 1900 due to 

 pollution of the rivers, 

 erosion and siltation caused 

 by timber harvesting, but 

 they have always existed 

 along the coast, Sumner 

 says. Today, the population is increasing 

 along the coast and even inland because 

 rivers are in better shape than they were 

 30 to 40 years ago, he says, adding that 

 the existence of otters means that the 

 ecosystem is "somewhat healthy." 



If the birth of creatures like the otter 

 is cause for celebration, it is also a 

 mystery. No one knows exactly how a 

 river otter disperses her offspring shortly 

 before giving birth. Somehow she knows 

 exactly how and when she needs to 

 ready herself to care for new life. □ 



COASTWATCH 15 



