Red wolf. Image Source: B Bartel / USFWS
Immediately following a federal judge’s order banning hunting for coyotes in red wolf habitat, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to a review of the red wolf recovery program which could end a 27-year experiment to restore the rare predators on North Carolina’s coast. The NC Wildlife Resources Commission has requested the review, questioning whether the current program can achieve its goal of establishing a self-sustaining wolf population on federal land. Much of the land in the current recovery area is privately owned.
The USFWS says the review was due anyway. “All the options, every time we do one of these evaluations, are on the table,” Leo Miranda, an assistant regional director in Atlanta, said. “[Our options include] …everything from [maintaining the]status quo to modifying the program to canceling the program like we did back in 1998.”
Join the Center for Biological Diversity in encouraging the USFWS to continue the current recovery program. Click here to urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to continue the reintroduction program and keep the last 100 red wolves in the wild from being returned to captivity. Get your voice heard — submit your opinion by July 30!
Original article available here.
