Why is the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) restoring red wolves (Canis rufus)?
The essential reasons are to prevent extinction of the species and to restore the ecosystems in which red wolves occurred, as mandated by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. The ESA found that endangered and threatened species are of aesthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational and scientific value to the Nation and its people. It is important to save all members of an ecosystem, including predators, if we intend to preserve the environment and be good stewards of the land. Lessons learned in the red wolf recovery program have served as a model for predator conservation worldwide. What do red wolves look like? Red wolves are mostly brown and buff colored with some black along their backs, often with a reddish color on their ears, head and legs. Red wolves are smaller than gray wolves and larger than coyotes. The average adult female red wolf weighs 52 pounds (24 kg), and the average adult male weighs 61 pounds (26 kg). Red wolves have tall pointed ears and long le
