FILE – A red wolf emerges from its den of newborn puppies at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC, May 13, 2019. Federal wildlife officials overseeing the world’s only wild population of red wolves in Endangered announced Wednesday, November 10, 2021, that they are abandoning a 2018 plan to limit animal territory and relax protections for wolves that have moved away from that area. .
A red wolf roams its habitat at the Museum of Life and Science on May 13 in Durham. Wildlife advocates have returned to court in hopes of reviving recovery efforts for the critically endangered red wolf, while North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a clearly worded letter urging to new measures.
Red wolf recovery project interrupted. (USFWS Photo).
JONATHAN DREW Associated Press
Federal officials overseeing the world’s only wild population of endangered red wolves have announced that they are abandoning a 2018 plan to limit animal range and relax protections for those who stray.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service made the announcement as part of an ongoing legal battle with conservation groups who claim the federal agency violated endangered species law by abandoning strategies that supported the wild population of wolves. Conservation groups welcomed the move, but said more needed to be done to bolster the wild population.
Red wolves once occupied much of the eastern United States, but came close to extinction due to trapping, hunting and habitat loss before being reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987. Scientists at zoos and other sites have maintained a captive population of around 200 wolves in recent years. .
The US Fish and Wildlife Service said it would follow previous rules that recognize an area of ​​five counties in eastern North Carolina as wolf habitat – the only place in the world where the red wolf roams the state. wild outside zoos or shelters. The 2018 proposal would have limited wolves to two counties and given landowners more leeway to kill those who have strayed onto their property.
In the statement, federal wildlife officials also asserted the agency’s power to release more wolves from captivity to bolster the wild population. Federal authorities have resumed releases of captive-bred wolves after U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ordered the government to come up with a plan to bring more of them into the wild. Prior to the ruling, the practice had largely been halted in recent years.
