NATURALIST'S 



NOTEBOOK 



smarter than wolves. . . . People 

 have been trying to exterminate 

 the coyote for 150 years, 

 unsuccessfully, but look how 

 relatively easily the red wolf was 

 brought to the point of extinc- 

 tion." 



Fish and Wildlife Service 

 biologists are now taking up the 

 age-old battle against the coyote, 

 but it's difficult to wage war 

 against a creature so close to the 

 red wolf in appearance. Though 

 coyotes are smaller, about half 

 the size of red wolves, they have 

 similar markings. "If I were to 

 see one over 150 yards away, I'd 

 only be able to say, 'That's a 

 small canid,'" McLellan says. 



Up close, the two species do 

 have recognizable differences. 

 "A coyote generally has a 

 smaller, narrower face, smaller 

 ears and a smaller muzzle," 

 McLellan says. "Also, their feet 

 are much smaller than a wolf s." 

 Yet if the program placed a 

 bounty on coyotes, concerned 

 citizens would likely kill as many 

 red wolves as their canid cousins. 



For now, the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service staff settle for trapping all the red 

 wolves, coyotes and hybrids that they can, 

 outfitting them with radio collars to track 

 their movements. "We don't know to 

 what extent they are interbreeding," 

 McLellan says. "Right now we're 

 sterilizing non-wolves, putting collars on 

 them and releasing them to their home 

 ranges. . . . They serve as space holders 

 until we can replace them with red 

 wolves." 



Overall, the red wolf program has 

 been a success, despite the threat of 

 hybridization, McLellan and Gilbreath 

 say. The wolves have reproduced well in 

 the wild, and scientists and wildlife 

 managers have gleaned vast amounts of 

 information about what red wolves need 



Coyotes are about half the size of red wolves. 



George Harrison/USFWS 



to survive. Many partners have joined the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service in supporting 

 the project, including the NC State 

 College of Veterinary Medicine, the N.C. 

 Zoological Park, the N.C. Department of 

 Transportation, the N.C. Wildlife 

 Resources Commission and Duke 

 University. The University of Idaho and 

 Trent University in Canada assist the 

 program with genetic research. 



"There has always been tremendous 

 public interest in the program," Gilbreath 

 says. Last year, the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service made her the program's first 

 outreach coordinator, in charge of working 

 with the media and keeping the project's 

 Web site up-to-date. 



The red wolves have drawn mixed 

 reaction from the surrounding communi- 

 ties. But some who were at first skeptical 



have softened their stance. 

 Initially, "the main issue was the 

 safety of families, pets and 

 livestock," McLellan says. But 

 the red wolves proved to be 

 notoriously shy and retiring. 

 "You rarely see them, unless 

 you're out there at night." 



In fact, the desire to make 

 contact with the wolves is much 

 stronger than any lingering fear. 

 "We've been doing howlings for 

 12 years, and they've always 

 been popular," McLellan says. 



"As many as 300 people 

 have come to one." 



At the howlings, staff 

 members make a short presenta- 

 tion on the wolves' history and 

 biology and provide information 

 on the re-establishment project. 

 Then staff members lead the rapt 

 audience through the woods 

 until they are near some of the 

 captive wolves — individuals 

 "who didn't do so well in the 

 wild," McLellan says. When the 

 guests howl into the darkness, 

 the wolves always howl back. 

 "It's great to see the reactions of 

 people," McLellan says. "They get so 

 excited . . . their mouths are gaping open, 

 their jaws are on the ground. They 

 always stay still for a few minutes, just 

 listening." 



As for McLellan himself, the eerie, 

 spine-tingling music of the wolves still 

 amazes him every time. Like so many 

 others in North Carolina he hopes it will 

 never be silenced. □ 



For more information about the red 

 wolf re-establishment program, or to get a 

 schedule of upcoming wolf howlings, 

 contact the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge 

 at 252/473-1 131. On the Web, check 

 www.outer-banks.com/alligator-river/ 

 redwolf.html, www.fws.gov/r4all/ 

 redwolf.html and www.nczooredwolf.org/ 



24 WINTER 2000 



