ALBEMARLE, N.C. — A litter of endangered red wolves has been born to a wild pair of parents in eastern North Carolina for the first time in four years.
WRAL reported Friday that the six pups were born in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Red Wolf Recovery Program staff said the litter includes four females and two males.
The wild births are a big deal for a species nearing extinction. Red wolves are the rarest canine predator on earth. Only 20 are known to remain in the wild, living in five sparsely populated areas of eastern North Carolina.
The two adult red wolf parents were brought to together through the Fish & Wildlife program. The pair had established their territory and mated.
The births are being celebrated by groups including the Center for Biological Diversity.
“There’s a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the Service’s recovery efforts and the survival and reproduction of red wolves in the wild,” said Perrin de Jong, North Carolina staff attorney at the center. “It’s tremendously encouraging to see the agency trying to protect and recover wild red wolves again. My heart is filled with hope at the sight of a new generation of red wolves taking their rightful place on the landscape.”
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