Red wolf captive breeding facilities announced, on 12 May 2021, the release of four rare red wolves into eastern North Carolina after conservation groups won a federal court ruling in January 2021 that required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a plan to release captive red wolves into the wild. The facilities also reported the fostering of four red wolf pups with a female wild wolf in North Carolina. In 2015, the USFWS suspended its longstanding and successful practice of releasing captive red wolves into the wild within the approximately 1.7- million acre Red Wolf Recovery Area. As few as seven red wolves remained in the wild following the agency’s refusal to release any captive wolves for the past six years. Please download the Southern Environmental Law Center press release below for more information:
Rare Red Wolves Released in North Carolina after Federal Court Ruling