Red wolf

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The red wolf (Canis rufus[4]/Canis lupus rufus[5]), also known as the

Red wolf

Florida wolf or Mississippi Valley wolf[6] is a canid of unresolved

taxonomic identity native to the eastern United States.[7][8] It is
generally, morphologically, an intermediate between the coyote and gray
wolf, and is of a reddish, tawny color.[9][10] The red wolf is a federally
listed endangered species of the United States, and is protected by
law.[11] It has been listed by IUCN as a critically endangered species
since 1996.[1]
Red wolves were likely the first New World wolf species encountered by
European colonists and were originally distributed throughout the
eastern United States from the Atlantic Ocean to central Texas, and in
the north from the Ohio River Valley, northern Pennsylvania and
southern New York south to the Gulf of Mexico.[8] The red wolf was
nearly driven to extinction by the mid-1900s due to aggressive predator
control programs, habitat destruction and extensive hybridization with
coyotes. By the late 1960s, it occurred in small numbers in the Gulf
Coast of western Louisiana and eastern Texas. Fourteen of these
survivors were selected to be the founders of a captively bred
population, which was established in the Point Defiance Zoo &
Aquarium between 1974 and 1980. After a successful experimental
relocation to Bulls Island off the coast of South Carolina in 1978, the red
wolf was declared extinct in the wild in 1980 in order to proceed with
restoration efforts. In 1987, the captive animals were released into the
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the Albemarle Peninsula in
North Carolina, with a second release taking place two years later in the

Conservation status

Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Database entry includes justification for
why this species is critically endangered.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Mammalia

Order:

Carnivora

from 1987-1994,[13] the population rose to as many as 100 - 120

Family:

Canidae

individuals in 2012 but has declined to 50 - 75 individuals in 2015.[14]

Genus:

Canis

Species:

C. rufus

Great Smoky Mountains National

Park.[12]

Of 63 red wolves released

The red wolf's taxonomic status has been a subject of controversy. A

2011 genetic study indicated that it may be a hybrid species between
gray wolves and coyotes.[15] Re-analysis of this study coupled with a
broader contextual analysis including behavioral, morphological and
additional genetic information led to arguments that the red wolf is an
independent species but has suffered from significant introgression of
coyote genes likely due to decimation of red wolf packs with
fragmentation of their social structure from hunting.[16] A
comprehensive review in October 2012 concluded that the red wolf is a
distinct species which diverged from the coyote alongside the closely

Binomial name
Canis rufus
(Audubon & Bachman, 1851)[2]

Subspecies
C. r. floridanis
C. r. gregoryi
C. r. rufus

related eastern wolf 150,000-300,000 years ago,[4] Although this 2012

review was not universally accepted among relevant authorities,[17] two
subsequent reviews of updated research in 2013 and 2014 suggest that
the red wolf was once a species distinct from the gray wolf and
coyote.[8][18] Finally, a 2015 genetics study, using the most
comprehensive mitochondrial DNA data, Y-chromosome data and
genome-wide 127,235 SNP data, concluded that "the most parsimonious
explanation" is that eastern wolves in Algonquin Provincial Park are "a
distinct remnant entity of a historical wolf that most likely existed
throughout the eastern United States".[19] This view is supported by the
idea that the coyote and gray wolf did not historically range into the
eastern United States, with current academic debate on red wolf
taxonomy shifting to a new question: whether the eastern wolf and red
wolf are conspecific,[8] a possibility considered by some researchers.[19]

Modern range of North American

Canis

Contents
1 Taxonomy
1.1 Fossil and historic record

Synonyms
Canis lupus rufus
Canis latrans Canis
lupus[3]

2 Physical description and behavior

3 Range and habitat
3.1 History and extirpation in the wild
3.2 Captive breeding and reintroduction
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

Taxonomy
The taxonomic reference Mammal Species of the World (2005) does not recognize Canis rufus, however
NCBI/Genbank does list it.[20]
The taxonomy of the red wolf has been debated since before efforts began in 1973 to save it from extinction. In
1971, Atkins and Dillon conducted a study on the brains of canids and confirmed the basal characteristics of the
red wolf.[21] Many studies throughout the 1970s focused on the morphology of the red wolf came to the
conclusion that the red wolf is a distinct species.[22] In 1980, a unique allele was found in Canis specimens from

within the red wolf range, supporting the conclusion that the red wolf is a distinct species.[23] Nevertheless,
some in the scientific community considered it a subspecies of the gray wolf[24] or a hybrid of the gray wolf and
the coyote.[25][26]
In 1992, the USFWS conducted an exhaustive review of the literature, including their own, and concluded that
the red wolf is either a separate species unto itself or a subspecies of the gray wolf.[27][28][29] Many agency
reports, books and web pages list the red wolf as Canis rufus but genetic
research re-opened the debate about the taxonomy of both the red wolf
and Canada's eastern wolf (Canis lupus lycaon).[30] Wilson et al. (2000)
concluded that the eastern wolf and red wolf should be considered as
sister taxa due to a shared common ancestor going back 150,000
300,000 years. In addition, Wilson et al. further stated that they should
be recognized as distinct species from other North American canids, and
not as subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus). However, these
conclusions were disputed,[29][31] and MSW3[5] listed them both in 2005
as subspecies of the gray wolf.

Skulls of North American Canis, with

red wolf in the center.

In May 2011, an analysis of red

wolf, eastern wolf, gray wolf, and dog genomes suggested that the red
wolf was 7680 percent coyote and only 2024 percent gray wolf,
suggesting that the red wolf is actually much more coyote in origin than
the eastern wolf. This study analyzed 48,000 SNP and found no
Comparative image of the red wolf
and coyote

evidence for a unique eastern wolf or red wolf species.[15] However, Xray analysis of the 16 red wolf specimens used in the SNP study were
later shown to be wolf-coyote hybrids via cranial morphometric
analysis, rendering the finding that the red wolf was a gray wolf-coyote

hybrid inaccurate.[32] The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) still considers the red wolf a valid species
(Canis rufus) and plans to make no changes to its recovery program.[33][34] In 2012, re-analysis of the 2011
SNP study argued that the original SNP study suffered from insufficient sampling and noted that gray wolves do
not mate with coyotes.[19] Another Y-chromosome genetic study in 2012 also argued that the eastern wolf and
red wolf are not hybrids but rather are a distinct species from the gray wolf, although eastern and red wolves do
intermix with coyotes.[35] The same authors have argued that the 2011 SNP study finding that red wolves are
not an independent species is flawed and that historical hunting and culling of wolves, leading to invasion of
coyotes into eastern North America, has led to introgression of coyote mitochondrial and nuclear DNA into
fragmented, decimated eastern wolf packs.[36] They and other authors have postulated that large populations of
eastern and red wolves with intact social/pack structures are less likely to interbreed with coyotes.[37] The
controversy over the red wolf's species status was the subject of a comprehensive review of the 2011 and 2012
genetics studies, which concluded that there are three separate species of wolf in North America, the red wolf,
eastern wolf and gray wolf.[4]
In a pair of 2012 reports, scientists critical of the May 2011 paper outlined three main points of criticism.[19][35]
First, the 2011 paper relied on mtDNA SNPs derived from boxer and poodle genomes and used these to
extrapolate inference about genetic variation within wild canids across the globe. While it is true that many
SNPs were examined, it remains unclear whether loci important to red wolf genetic variation were actually

identified and analyzed (for example, nuclear DNA was not compared in the SNP analysis). Second, the study
sampled modern red wolf specimens, and not historic red wolf specimens from prior to 1900 (when extensive
hybridization with coyotes is known to have taken place), which obfuscates the reliability of the study's
findings. This is important because using historic red wolf genetic material would have created a baseline
genetic profile for the species against which to test the modern captive-bred specimens. (It is common
knowledge that the captive-bred red wolves are likely slightly hybridized, but this is a separate issue from
interpreting their species origin as due to hybridization.) Third, the authors lumped eastern wolf specimens
(which critics from Trent University warn are of unverified origin) with other Great Lakes wolf specimens, and
did not test them separately, which again obfuscated any genetic differences that may have been present. The
controversy over the eastern wolf's origins is not considered by the scientific community to be laid to rest,
although it may be synonymous with the red wolf.[4]
When considered as a full species, three subspecies of red wolf were originally recognized by Goldman;[38] two
of these subspecies are extinct. The Florida black wolf (Canis rufus floridanus) (Maine to Florida)[39] has been
extinct since 1930 and Gregory's wolf (Canis rufus gregoryi) (south-central United States)[39] was declared
functionally extinct in the wild by 1980. The Texas red wolf (Canis rufus rufus), the third surviving subspecies,
was also functionally extinct in the wild by 1980, although that status was changed to critically endangered
when captive-bred red wolves from Texas were reintroduced in eastern North Carolina in 1987. The current
status of the "non-essential/experimental" population in North Carolina is endangered and the population
numbers around 100 wild animals.[40] The subspecies designations are essentially moot since two are extinct
but the genetic evidence for the three subspecies appears to have been unconvincing anyway.[4]
In 2013, an experiment which produced hybrids of coyotes and northwestern gray wolves in captivity using
artificial insemination contributed more information to the controversy surrounding the eastern wolf's
taxonomy. The purpose of this project was to determine whether or not if the female western coyotes are
capable of bearing hybrid western gray wolf-coyote pups as well as to test the hybrid theory surrounding the
origin of the eastern and red wolves by comparing them to both. The resulting six hybrids produced in this
captive artificial breeding were later on transferred to the Wildlife Science Center of Forest Lake in Minnesota
where their behaviors are now being studied.[41] However, by 1999, introgression of coyote genes was
recognized as the single greatest threat to wild red wolf recovery and an adaptive management plan which
included coyote sterilization has been successful, with coyote genes being reduced by 2015 to < 4% of the wild
red wolf population.[13]
In 2014, the review of Chambers et al. (2012) which suggested the eastern wolf should be listed either as a
distinct species closely related to the red wolves or conspecific with the latter became controversial, forcing the
USFWS to commission a peer review of it, known as NCAES (2014), which took issue with the review.[17]
However, more recent reviews suggest the evidence has "tilted towards a North American canid assemblage
composed of the eastern wolf, red wolf and coyote as distinct taxa...that descended from a common ancestral
canid of North American origin" before arrival of the gray wolf from Eurasia.[8][18]

Fossil and historic record

Paleontological evidence has suggested an origin of the red wolf line 12 Ma, branching from a wolf-coyote
ancestor, which itself appeared about 4.9 Ma.[42][43] Between 150,000300,000 years ago, the North American
branch evolved into the red wolf, eastern wolf and the coyote.[44] Another wolf-like branch migrated to Eurasia
and evolved into the gray wolf, which later migrated to North America.[43] It is thought that its original
distribution included much of eastern North America, where red wolves were found from Maine south to
Florida and in south central US westward to Texas. Records of bounty payments to Wappinger Indians in New
York in the middle 18th century confirm its range at least that far north;[45] it's possible that it could have
extended as far as extreme eastern Canada.[46]

Physical description and behavior

The red wolf's appearance is typical of the genus Canis, and is generally
intermediate in size between the coyote and gray wolf, though some
specimens may overlap in size with small gray wolves. A study of Canis
morphometrics conducted in eastern North Carolina reported that red
wolves are morphometrically distinct from coyotes and hybrids.[47]
Adults measure 136160 cm (53.563 in) in length, and weigh 2339 kg
(50-85 lbs).[47] Its pelage is typically more reddish and sparsely furred
than the coyote's and gray wolf's, though melanistic individuals do
occur.[9] Its fur is generally tawny to grayish in color, with light
eyes.[10]

wolf,[48]

Melanistic individual at the Audubon

Park, New Orleans (1931)

markings around the lips and

Like the eastern
the red
wolf has been compared by some authors to the greyhound in general
form, owing to its relatively long and slender limbs. The ears are also
proportionately larger than the coyote's and gray wolf's. The skull is typically narrow, with a long and slender
rostrum, a small braincase and a well developed sagittal crest. Its cerebellum is unlike that of other Canis
species, being closer in form to that of canids of the Vulpes and Urocyon genera, thus indicating that the red
wolf is one of the more plesiomorphic members of its genus.[9]

The red wolf is more sociable than the coyote, but less so than the gray wolf. It mates in JanuaryFebruary, with
an average of 6-7 pups being born in March, April, and May. It is monogamous, with both parents participating
the rearing of young.[49][50] Denning sites include hollow tree trunks, along stream banks and the abandoned
earths of other animals. By the age of six weeks, the pups distance themselves from the den,[49] and reach full
size at the age of one year, becoming sexually mature two years later.[10]
Prior to its extinction in the wild, the red wolf's diet consisted of nutria, rabbits and rodents.[51] In contrast, the
red wolves from the restored population rely on white-tailed deer, raccoon, nutria and rabbits.[52][53] It should
be noted, however, that white-tailed deer were largely absent from the last wild refuge of red wolves on the Gulf
Coast between Texas and Louisiana (where specimens were trapped from the last wild population for captive
breeding), which likely accounts for the discrepancy in their dietary habits listed here. Historical accounts of
wolves in the southeast by early explorers such as William Hilton, who sailed along the Cape Fear River in
what is now North Carolina in 1644, also note that they ate deer.[54]

Range and habitat

The originally-recognized red wolf range extended throughout the
southeastern United States from the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, north to
the Ohio River Valley and central Pennsylvania, and west to Central
Texas and southeastern Missouri.[55] But research into paleontological,
archaeological and historical specimens of red wolves by Ronald Nowak
expanded their known range to include land south of the Saint Lawrence
River in Canada, along the eastern seaboard, and west to Missouri and
mid-Illinois, terminating in the southern latitudes of Central Texas.[39]
Since 1987, red wolves have been released into northeastern North
acres.[56]

Historical range of the red wolf.

Carolina where they roam 1.7 million

These lands span five
counties (Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington and Beaufort) and include
three national wildlife refuges, a U.S. Air Force bombing range, and private land.[56] The red wolf recovery
program is unique for a large carnivore reintroduction in that more than half of the land used for reintroduction
lies on private property. Approximately 680,000 acres (2,800 km2) are federal and state lands, and 1,002,000
acres (4,050 km2) are private lands. Beginning in 1991, red wolves were also released into the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park in eastern Tennessee.[57] However, due to exposure to environmental disease
(parvovirus), parasites and competition (with coyotes as well as intraspecific aggression), the red wolf was
unable to successfully establish a wild population in the park. Low prey density was also a problem, forcing the
wolves to leave the park boundaries in pursuit of food in lower elevations. In 1998, the FWS removed the
remaining red wolves in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, relocating them to Alligator River National
Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina.[58] Other red wolves have been released on the coastal islands in
Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina as part of the captive breeding management plan. St. Vincent Island in
Florida is currently the only active island propagation site.
Given their wide historical distribution, red wolves probably utilized a large suite of habitat types at one time.
The last naturally occurring population utilized coastal prairie marshes, swamps and agricultural fields used to
grow rice and cotton. However, this environment probably does not typify preferred red wolf habitat. There is
evidence that the species was found in highest numbers in the once extensive bottom land river forests and
swamps of the southeastern United States. Red wolves re-introduced into northeastern North Carolina have
utilized habitat types ranging from agricultural lands to forest/wetland mosaics characterized by an over story of
pine and an understory of evergreen shrubs. This suggests that red wolves are habitat generalists and can thrive
in most settings where prey populations are adequate and persecution by humans is slight.[59]

History and extirpation in the wild

Before the arrival of Europeans, the red wolf featured prominently in Cherokee mythology, where it is known
as wa'ya (), said to be the companion of Kana'ti the hunter and father of the Aniwaya or Wolf Clan.[60] Its
reddish color was seen as symbolizing war, as well as all things sacred and beloved.[61] Cherokees generally
avoided killing red wolves, as it was believed that such an act would bring about the vengeance of the killed
animals' pack-mates.[62]

The red wolf was first described by William Bartram, who encountered it in Florida and wrote of it in his
Travels (1791), noting that it was smaller and lighter in color than the gray wolves of Canada and
Pennsylvania.[59] John James Audubon was the first to describe the red wolf in detail, giving it the trinomial
name of Canis lupus rufus in 1851. He described it as being more fox-like than the gray wolf, but retaining the
same "sneaking, cowardly, yet ferocious disposition". Audubon also recounted that red wolves occasionally fed
on the battlefield corpses of fallen soldiers during the MexicanAmerican War.[2] The red wolf's full specific
rank was first given by Edward Goldman in 1937, who examined a
number of skulls and noted that the red wolf's skull and dentition
differed from those of gray wolves, and closely approached those of
coyotes. He wrote that by the time of writing, the species may have
become extinct in the lower Sonoran zone, where it was heavily
persecuted by ranchmen. Stanley P. Young noted in 1940 that the red
wolf was still common in eastern Texas, where more than 800 had been
caught in 1939, and further cast doubt over the prospect of fully
exterminating them, due to their habit of living concealed in thickets.[6]
However, by 1962, red wolf sightings became increasingly rare, and few
tracks or scats were found.[12]

Audubon's depiction of the species

(1851).

Captive breeding and reintroduction

Formal efforts backed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began to save the
red wolf from extinction in 1973 when a captive breeding program was
established at the Point Defiance Zoological Gardens, Tacoma, Washington.
Four hundred animals were captured from southwestern Louisiana and
southeastern Texas from 1973 to 1980 by the US Fish and Wildlife
Service.[63][64] Measurements, vocalization analyses, and skull X-rays were
used to distinguish red wolves from coyotes and red wolf-coyote hybrids. Of the
400 animals captured, only 43 were believed to be red wolves and sent to the
breeding facility. The first litters were produced in captivity in May 1977. Some
of the pups were determined to be hybrids, and they and their parents were
removed from the captive breeding program. Of the original 43 animals, only 17
were considered pure red wolves and since three were unable to breed, 14
became the breeding stock for the captive breeding program.[65] These 14 were
so closely related that they had the genetic effect of being only eight individuals.
FWS worker with red wolf
pups, August 2002

In Dec. 1976, two wolves were released onto Cape Romain National Wildlife
Refuge's Bulls Island in South Carolina with the intent of testing and honing
reintroduction methods. They were not released with the intent of beginning a permanent population on the

island.[66] The first experimental translocation lasted for 11 days, during which a mated pair of red wolves were
monitored day and night with remote telemetry. A second experimental translocation was tried in 1978 with a
different mated pair, and they were allowed to remain on the island for close to nine months.[66] After that, a
larger project was executed in 1987 to reintroduce a permanent population of red wolves back to the wild in the
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR) on the eastern coast of North Carolina. Also in 1987, Bulls
Island became the first island breeding site. Pups were raised on the island and relocated to North Carolina until
2005.[67]

In September 1987, four male-female pairs of red wolves were released in Alligator River National Wildlife
Refuge in northeastern North Carolina and designated as an experimental population. Since then, the
experimental population has grown and the recovery area expanded to include four national wildlife refuges, a
Department of Defense bombing range, state-owned lands, and private lands, encompassing about 1,700,000
acres (6,900 km2).[68]
In 1989, the second island propagation project was initiated with release of a population on Horn Island off the
Mississippi coast. This population was removed in 1998 because of a likelihood of encounters with humans.
The third island propagation project introduced a population on St. Vincent Island, Florida offshore between
Cape San Blas and Apalachicola, Florida in 1990, and in 1997 the fourth island propagation program introduced
a population to Cape St. George Island, Florida south of Apalachicola, Florida.
In 1991, two pairs were reintroduced into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where the last known red
wolf was killed in 1905. Despite some early success, the wolves were relocated to North Carolina in 1998,
ending the effort to reintroduce the species to the park.
In 2007, the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that there were 300 red wolves remaining in the world,
with 207 of those in captivity.[69]
Interbreeding with the coyote has been recognized as a threat affecting the restoration of red wolves. Currently,
adaptive management efforts are making progress in reducing the threat of coyotes to the red wolf population in
northeastern North Carolina. Other threats, such as habitat fragmentation, disease, and anthropogenic mortality,
are of concern in the restoration of red wolves. Efforts to reduce the threats are presently being explored.[56]
Over 30 facilities participate in the red wolf Species Survival Plan and oversee the breeding and reintroduction
of over 150 wolves.[70]
In 2012, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina Wildlife Resources
Commission for jeopardizing the existence of the wild red wolf population by allowing nighttime hunting of
coyotes in the 5-county restoration area in eastern North Carolina.[71] A 2014 court-approved settlement
agreement was reached that banned nighttime hunting of coyotes and requires permitting and reporting coyote
hunting.[71] In response to the settlement, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission adopted a
resolution requesting the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to remove all wild red wolves from private
lands, terminate recovery efforts, and declare red wolves extinct in the wild.[72] This resolution came in the
wake of a 2014 programmatic review of the red wolf conservation program conducted by The Wildlife
Management Institute.[73][74][75] The Wildlife Management Institute indicated the reintroduction of the red wolf
was an incredible achievement. The report indicated that red wolves could be released and survive in the wild
but that illegal killing of red wolves threatens the long-term persistence of the population.[75] The report stated
that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service needed to update its red wolf recovery plan, thoroughly
evaluate its strategy for preventing coyote hybridization and increase its public outreach.[76] Since the
programmatic review, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ceased implementing the red wolf adaptive
management plan that was responsible for preventing red wolf hybridization with coyotes and allowed the
release of captive-born red wolves into the wild population.[77] Since then, the wild population has decreased
from 100-115 red wolves to 50-65.[78]

In 2014, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service issued the first take permit for a red wolf to a private
landowner.[79] Since then, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service issued several other take permits to
landowners in the 5-county restoration area. During June 2015, a landowner shot and killed a female red wolf
after being authorized a take permit, causing a public outcry.[80][81] In response, the Southern Environmental
Law Center filed a lawsuit against the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for violating the Endangered
Species Act.[82]

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Further reading

Beeland, T. D. (2013). The Secret World of Red Wolves: The Fight to Save America's Other Wolf. 256
pages. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Chambers, S. M.; Fain, S. R.; Fazio, B.; Amaral, M. (2012). "An account of the taxonomy of North
American wolves from morphological and genetic analyses". North American Fauna 77: 167.
doi:10.3996/nafa.77.0001.
^ R. Nowak, R.M. (1992). "The red wolf is not a hybrid.". Conservation Biology 6 : 593-595.
Hinton, J. W., Chamberlain, M. J., Rabon, D. R. (2013). "Red Wolf (Canis rufus) Recovery: A Review
with Suggestions for Future Research". Animals 3: 722744. doi:10.3390/ani3030722.
Nowak, R. M. (1979). North American Quaternary Canis. Unpublished Monograph, University of Kansas
Hays.
Nowak, R. M. (2002). "The original status of wolves in eastern North America". Southeastern Naturalist
1 (2): 95130. doi:10.1656/1528-7092(2002)001[0095:tosowi]2.0.co;2.
Nowak, R. M. (2003). Chapter 9: Wolf evolution and taxonomy. In D. Mech & L. Boitani (Eds.), Wolves:
Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation (pp. 239258). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Philips, M. K., Kelly, B., & Henry, G. (2003). Restoration of the red wolf In D. Mech & L. Boitani (Eds.),
"Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation (pp. 272288). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
^ Roy, M.S., Geffen, E., Smith, D., Ostrander, E.A. & Wayne, R.K. (1994). "Patterns of differentiation
and hybridization in North American wolflike canids, revealed by analysis of micro satellite loci.".
Molecular Biology and Evolution 11 : 553570.
^ Roy, M.S., Girman, D.G., Taylor, A.C. & Wayne, R.K. (1994). "The use of museum specimens to
reconstruct the genetic variability and relationships of extinct populations.". Experientia 50 : 551-557.
L. Y. Rutledge, S. Devillard, J. Q. Boone, P. A. Hohenlohe, B. N. White (July 2015). "RAD sequencing
and genomic simulations resolve hybrid origins within North American Canis". Biology Letters 11: 14.
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0303.
^ Silverstein, A., Silverstein, V. B. & Silverstein, R. A. (1994). "The Red wolf: endangered in America.".
Brookfield: Conn. Millbrook Press.
^ Wayne, R.K. & Jenks, S.M. (1991). "Mitochondrial DNA analysis implying extensive hybridization of
the endangered red wolf Canis rufus". Nature 351 : 565-568.
^ Wayne, R.K., Lehman, N., Allard, M.W. & Honeycutt, R.L. (1992). "Mitochondrial DNA variability of
the grey wolf - genetic consequences of population decline and habitat fragmentation". Conservation
Biology 6: 559-569.
Wildlife Management Institute (2014). A Comprehensive Review and Evaluation of the Red Wolf (Canis
rufus) Recovery Program. 171 pages.
Wilson, P. J.; Grewal, S.; Lawford, I. D.; Heal, J. N. M.; Granacki, A. G.; Pennock, D.; et al. (2000).
"DNA profiles of the eastern Canadian wolf and the red wolf provide evidence for a common
evolutionary history independent of the gray wolf". Canadian Journal of Zoology 78: 21562166.
doi:10.1139/cjz-78-12-2156.

External links
Summary of Red Wolf Genetic Analysis
(http://www.canids.org/PUBLICAT/CNDNEWS3/2conserv.htm)
ARKive - images and movies of the Red wolf (Canis rufus)

Wikispecies has information

related to: Canis rufus
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to:
Canis rufus (category)

(http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Canis_rufus/more_info.html)
Red Wolf Species Overview at Enature.com (http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?
allSpecies=y&searchText=red%20wolf&curGroupID=5&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1)
Red Wolf (http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/wow/regions/United_States/North_Carolina.asp),
International Wolf Center

The Red Wolf Coalition (http://www.redwolves.com)

Wolf Source (http://www.wolfsource.org)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_wolf&oldid=708137299"
Categories: IUCN Red List critically endangered species Wolves Canid hybrids
Wolves in the United States Megafauna of North America Animals described in 1851
Subspecies of Canis lupus Controversial taxa
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