North Carolina Governor Urges Protection of Red Wolves

 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – State officials are urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to work harder to save endangered red wolves from extinction.

In letters sent this week to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gov. Roy Cooper – along with the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources – has asked the federal agencies to take immediate action to save the existing, wild red wolf population. See Governors Letter at the Bottom of this article. For three decades, North Carolina has partnered with Fish and Wildlife to operate a red-wolf recovery program.

The recovery program increased red wolves' numbers from 14 in 1973 to a peak of around 130 animals in the 2000s. Now, the population has shrunk back to what it was in the 1970s. Today, Clarkson said, only 14 red wolves remain in the wild.

The governor's letters call for the restoration of a coyote sterilization program and funding for public education efforts to help hunters and landowners distinguish red wolves from coyotes.


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