In Human Care (ex situ)

Red wolf hanging out next to waterfall at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium by Katie Cotterill

The recovery of the red wolf began as a remarkable conservation success story. By 1972, the species was reduced to a small coastal area in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. From 1973-1980, the Service began trapping wild canids in the area to prevent extinction of the species and establish a captive breeding program with the intention of reintroducing the species in the wild. In the early 1970s, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, in association with the Service, established a captive-breeding program using 14 founding red wolves. After numbers continued to decline due to human persecution and habitat loss, the red wolf was subsequently declared extinct in the wild in 1980. (Source: USFWS).

But the fight to save this species is far from over!