The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking public comment to help them decide whether to terminate the red wolf reintroduction program in Eastern North Carolina. This critical program has been described as one of the most successful endangered species reintroduction programs in history, and North Carolina is now home to the world’s only wild population of red wolves.

The Virginian-Pilot writes: “The red wolf is thought to have ranged across much of the East and Midwest until loss of habitat, combined with hunting and trapping for predator control, reduced it to a remnant population on the border of Texas and Louisiana. Fourteen of those animals were rounded up for captive breeding in zoos and nature centers, and the wild population was declared extinct in 1980. In 1987, four pairs born in captivity were released on Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The population now has grown to about 100 animals that live and roam on federal, state and private lands in five counties.”

Submit your public comment to the USFWS and urge them to keep the red wolves safe!