4 /? 



tie Brink ol Extinction 



real hardy, highly adaptable crea- 

 tures." 



Twenty years ago, hardy was 

 hardly the word for it. That's when 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service, fearing 

 Canis rufus was about to become ex- 

 tinct, began an ambitious program to 

 save the wolf. 



It was almost too late. 



Red wolves once roamed 

 a large portion of the south- 

 eastern United States, includ- 

 ing North Carolina. But hunt- 

 ing, trapping and land conver- 

 sion for forestry and agricul- 

 ture pushed them out of the 

 state by the early 1900s. Ag- 

 gressive predator eradication 

 programs eliminated more 

 wolf territory by mid-century. 



By the 1960s, the wolves 

 were concentrated in a small, 

 marshy area of Texas and 

 Louisiana. Populations 

 dwindled, and in 1967, Canis 

 rufus was declared an endan- 

 gered species. 



But the species was not 

 only losing its habitat; it was 

 also losing its identity. As 

 their habitat grew poor and 

 populations declined, red 

 wolves began to breed with 

 coyotes, leading biologists to 

 fear the true wolf quickly 

 could vanish. 



In the 1970s, Fish and Wildlife 

 workers began capturing every wild 

 red wolf they would locate. They dis- 

 covered there weren't many left. 

 They trapped hundreds of animals, 

 finding only about 40 that might be 

 true red wolves. Extensive study and 



testing narrowed that pool to 14 

 wolves that would serve as stock for 

 the species. 



Several years passed before 

 North Carolina was chosen as the 

 wolves' new home, however. Fish 

 and Wildlife officials first wanted 

 to release them on the Tennessee 



\d wolves once roamed 

 a large portion of the 

 southeastern United States, 

 including North Carolina. 

 But hunting, trapping and land 

 conversion for forestry and 

 agriculture pushed them out of 

 the state hy the early 1900s. 

 Aggressive predator eradication 

 programs eliminated more wolf 

 territory by mid-century. 



Valley Authority's Land Between 

 the Lakes region in Kentucky and 

 Tennessee. 



It seemed an ideal place for the 

 wolves. But the plan met with stiff 

 opposition from hunters and ranch- 

 ers, who were afraid the wolves 

 would threaten their property rights 



and their livestock. Unable to sway 

 them, the agency gave up in 1984. 



Enter Alligator River. While 

 Fish and Wildlife had been capturing 

 wolves and trying to appease wolf 

 opponents in Kentucky and Tennes- 

 see, The Nature Conservancy had 

 begun talking with First Colony 



Farms about a deal to protect 

 a large pocosin peninsula in 

 eastern Dare County. 



The talks had nothing to 

 do with red wolves. But in 

 1984, just as Fish and Wildlife 

 officials gave up on releasing 

 the wolves on Land Between 

 the Lakes, The Nature Con- 

 servancy presented the agency 

 with a gift: nearly 120,000 

 acres of land. And it was per- 

 fect for the red wolf. 



Fish and Wildlife officials 

 quickly decided Alligator 

 River would be the red wolf's 

 new home. But the wolves 

 didn't arrive immediately. 

 The agency had learned some 

 lessons from Land Between 

 the Lakes. 



Before approaching 

 Dare County about the wolf, 

 officials declared the animal 

 " experimental/nonessential," 

 meaning the population re- 

 leased would not be essential 

 for the species' survival. 



Under this designation, wolves 

 could be moved if they began show- 

 ing up in town or causing problems 

 on a farm. They could be killed if 

 they were threatening a human life. A 

 person who killed a wolf by accident 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 9 



