DeLene Beeland wrote a book about red wolves, hoping it would spark more conversation about saving the country's only native wolf species.
North Carolina is the home of the only wild population of red wolves since wildlife managers started rereleasing them there in 1987. He coordinates with scientists and naturalists across the country to plan red wolf breeding programs and repopulation efforts. OPERLE: Lasher works at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. Some experts, like red wolf species survival plan coordinator Chris Lasher, link past attitudes toward the red wolf directly to European fairy tales.ĬHRIS LASHER: They thought they were - based on all those old stories that we hear, like "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Pigs" and those type of things, that the red wolf was an evil animal that was going to, you know, attack children and attack pets and kill their livestock. government, and habitat loss were the biggest contributors to the species' population decline. OPERLE: Widespread extermination campaigns, some led by the U.S. POLLPETER: The red wolf is purely American, but also purely only Southern. What makes it really special, Pollpeter says, is it can only be found in the American South. With distinctive reddish-colored fur on its neck and legs, a typical adult red wolf is around 4 feet long from tip to tail and weighs about 80 pounds - a little bigger than a German shepherd. With only around 20 known specimens in the wild, most are in captivity at facilities across the country. OPERLE: Red wolves are the most endangered canid in the world. JOHN POLLPETER: When Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and John James Audubon - when they were painting or writing about a wolf, they were writing about the red wolf.
OPERLE: The recreation area's lead naturalist John Pollpeter says red wolves used to be at the top of the food chain across the American South and were a familiar sight to residents before the late 1800s. He and mate Ember are parents to four bouncing baby pups. But at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, 12-year-old Jasper defied expectations to become the oldest breeding red wolf on record. Derek Operle with member station WKMS has more.ĭEREK OPERLE, BYLINE: With only a little more than 250 red wolves in the world, births aren't all that common and are usually planned. The male wolf who fathered them was thought to be too old. This past spring, a litter of pups, nicknamed the Fantastic Four, were born, which was a surprise to the staff. Scientists there have been trying to save the critically endangered animal. For about 30 years, officials in western Kentucky have been running a red wolf recovery program.
0 kommentar(er)
